Crash Bandicoot: The Fallen Prognosticus
by CrashGuy01
Summary: Sequel to "Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Fate". An extremely evil force has risen to power, with their eyes set upon destroying the universe. Crash Bandicoot, teaming up with his friends and close allies, as well as his arch-nemesis Dr. Neo Cortex, must band together and stop this evil force from obliterating the universe before it's too late...
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Ahoy, readers, CrashGuy01 here! This story, this story right here, is a sequel to a previous story I've written, **Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Fate**. If you haven't read **The Dark Fate** before, then I would probably advise you to do it right away, so you can get all caught up to speed. Skim if you like. And if you have read that story already...well, good job, I guess. The following prologue is an excerpt from the prequel's epilogue, and there will be a prologue for every chapter of this story. Just a heads up.

Enough talking from me...enjoy the story!

* * *

 _Previously..._

 _It has been four years since our lovable marsupial Crash Bandicoot and his allies defeated Exodus and pretty much saved the universe from destruction. Minus an occasional appearance from Cortex doing evil stuff and promptly getting his butt kicked, Crash, Coco, Aku, Crunch, Fake Crash, and Yaya (the newest addition to Wumpa Island) were spending their days relaxing and whatnot, not giving a single care about the world._

 _"Crash has been sleeping for six hours straight, nothing can possibly wake him up!" said Aku, as he and Crunch were looking down at the bandicoot, sleeping on the sand with his tongue out. Crash no longer had that collar he wore throughout his adventure, which mean that he was back to being the gibberish goofball we all knew and loved._

 _"Crunch know what can wake up Crash - pouring some hot water on his face!" said Crunch, although Aku objected this idea. "Hot water can make anyone up and alert, and I know that from experience!" Just then, Coco ran out of the house, with her laptop in hand._

 _"Is Crash still asleep?" the blonde bandicoot asked, and she would find Crash asleep, leading her to sigh. "Can one of you boys please wake up Crash? I just got an e-mail from Brio, wants us to visit his at his laboratory...got a bad feeling about this."_

* * *

 _At Cortex's Castle, Cortex was busy working on his latest invention...and no, this invention had nothing to do with eradicating Crash. Rather, this invention had much to do with deep-frying, so it had no evil purposes whatsoever._

 _"Seriously, Cortex, is this the best thing you could create?" questioned Cortex's father, Archie, who was watching his son do his thing in the lab._

 _"Well if you hadn't told me not to build anymore evil inventions, then maybe you'll stop questioning me!" retorted Cortex, as he was configuring the buttons. "Also, my hot wife Zoey approved of this Deep Fryer 3000, so I'm just making her happy!"_

 _"Always trying to charm your wife...sometimes I wonder where your head is it."_

 _Just then, a knock was at the door. While Cortex kept working on his lame deep-frying machine, Archie got up and answered the door...and was surprised to see a fellow from Gemstone Island, Collator._

 _"Greetings, Dr. Archie Cortex, long time no see," the glounce greeted the scientist. "May I have a quick chit-chat with you and your son, for a hot minute? Got some important matters to discuss - VERY important matters."_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A New Beginning**

Sensing the start of yet another journey, Crash was packing up his Wumpa fruit as he, Coco, Crunch, Fake Crash, and Yaya were making the last preparations before heading over to Brio's lab. The lab was over at Cortex's Island, which meant that the bandicoot gang...and Yaya...had to enter enemy territory.

"Is the raft ready for sailing?" Aku asked Crash and Crunch, who were responsible for setting up the float. Both bandicoots gave a thumbs up. "What about the provisions, do we have enough provisions?"

"I don't think we need any, Aku - we're just paying Brio a visit," replied Coco, doing some last-minute objectives on her laptop. "Hopefully we won't have to stay around for long."

"We don't need any provisions, you say? Well I see Crash stuffing some Wumpa fruit in his suitcase...and now he's stuffing the fruit down his pants. And you're certain we don't need any provisions?"

"Where did Crash even get a suitcase, and why would he even...you know what, forget about it." Coco no longer wished to dwell on the thought, as she finished up what she was doing. Once she was done, she put her laptop away, and joined Crash on the raft. "Yaya, Fake Crash, we're about to leave!" Coco would call out.

"Coming!" shouted Yaya, as the panda came running to the raft, nearly out of breath once she arrived. "Fake Crash should be arriving shortly - he said he's dealing with a 'fearsome pest', or at least that's what he told me. Make of it what you will."

"GAAAAAAH IT'S COMING TO GET ME!" shrieked Fake Crash, running for his life...as he was being chased by a mere small crab. The bandicoot leaped unto the raft, only to break through said raft and leaving behind a huge hole in the process. Crunch saw this, and frowned as he saw the raft sink.

"Dang it, that's the fifth time that happened!" the burly bandicoot frowned. "Maybe Crunch needs to stop using stick glue to put the raft together. Now where dd I put that wood glue at, that should do the trick!"

* * *

Much like Crash and his gang, Cortex was also headed for Brio's lab. His castle and Brio's lab were pretty much in the same vicinity, so the N head didn't have to travel at all.

"Hurry up, you two, we must reach Brio's lab before it's too late!" Cortex would say to Nina and Tropy, who tagged along with the mad scientist. Or at least they were forced to. Nobody would willingly agree to go anywhere with cortex, would they?

"Uncle Cortex, we've been practically walking around in circles," said Nina, already tired of walking.

"I'm glad you noticed that, my dear niece Nina - it was a test to see if you were observant. And you've passed, with flying colors! As for you Tropy...you have failed!"

"I did not know about this stupid 'test' beforehand, so how could I have possibly failed?" questioned Tropy, also tired of walking.

"Talking back to your teacher, how dare you! If I hadn't failed you, I would have deducted points off your score! Now enjoy your grade of zero in peace!"

Cortex would look out the far distance, at the ocean, and gasped when he saw Crash and company, sailing towards the island on a fully functioning raft. Just the sight of Crash made Cortex furious.

"That marsupial Crash is trying to reach Brio's lab before I do!" panicked the N head. "We must hurry before Crash beats us!" So Cortex stopped walking in circles, and led Nina and Tropy on an actual path.

"All it took was for Crash to make Cortex lead us to Brio's lab..." remarked Tropy, as he and Nina followed after Cortex. "...told you that man was obsessed with Crash."

"He's just too insecure to admit it," grinned Nina, as Crash and company got closer to the island.

* * *

While Cortex and his crew were on their way to Brio's lab, Cortex's minions - N. Gin, Tiny, Dingodile, Koala Kong, the Komodo Bros, Pinstripe, N. Trance, Ripper Roo, and the newest addition, Rilla Roo - were stuck at the castle, bummed out that Cortex didn't ask them to go with him to Brio's lab. They were feeling disrespected, and thought Cortex should be giving them their due.

"Why would Master Cortex leave me back here at his castle, when I'm obviously his most valuable minion!" cried N. Gin. "Why, I helped him build all his evil machines! I even went to the Academy of Evil with him, for crying out loud!"

"Just because you went to school with Cortex, doesn't mean that he thinks more highly of you than the rest of us," said Pinstripe, with his Tommy gun in his possession. "If anything, I'M his most valuable minion - who in here has a Tommy gun? That's right, ME!"

"No, I'm the most valuable minion - I'm the smartest person in this room!" Ripper Roo bragged, wearing a collar than allowed him to speak intelligibly. "Must I remind you about my Ph.D?"

"Your Ph.D in insanity!" taunted Dingodile, making Roo furious. "I was created by Dr. Nitrus Brio, which alone makes me more valuable than all of you blokes!"

"Like that's supposed to mean anything, that's disputable anyways..." scoffed N. Trance, patting his claw hand. "It's not like you can hypnotize other people like I can!"

"Tiny the best minion because he the strongest!" boasted Tiny, as he flexed his muscles.

"Don't be mistaken, Tiny, for I'm the strongest!" Kong also boasted while flexing his muscles as well, if not more than Tiny.

"No, Komodo Moe and I are the best - two heads are always better than one!" said Komodo Joe, as he and Moe wielded their swords.

"Uroh uroh uroh!" Rilla Roo made gorilla sounds while banging his chest. The other minions looked at the mutant, believing that he was making serious threats.

"Look at Rilla Roo, using those fighting words!" N. Trance interpreted what Rilla Roo said, somehow. "I think we should have a fight, to determine who the best minion is out of the bunch!"

"Yeah, I second that - I'm gonna cream you punks, every single one of ya!" gloated Pinstripe, loading up his Tommy gun. Everyone else was getting pumped...everyone except for N. Gin, that is.

"Everyone calm down, I have a proposition!" the cyborg spoke up, as the animosity in the room died down. "How about all of us go to Cortex, and then we won't have to worry about beating each other to a pulp? We can get a direct answer from Cortex, rather than having a bloodshed to prove which one of us is the best!"

"First off, mate, you kinda sound like a suckup for Cortex, wanting to hear his opinion on every little thing," responded Dingodile, lowering his flamethrower. "Secondly, that's a good idea you got there. Let's go see what Master Cortex thinks!"

* * *

Cortex, Nina, and Tropy finally arrived at Brio's lab...or rather, the castle that contained Brio's lab. The lab in question was on the eighth floor of the castle, and Cortex and company were taking the stairs to reach the lab.

"We're almost there, you guys!" Cortex told the others, as they were now on the seventh floor of the castle. Sweat was running down Tropy's face, as he felt like collapsing on the steps.

"Are you sure this castle doesn't have an elevator?" the sweating master of time asked Cortex, wiping the sweat off his face. "Would be pretty convenient now..."

"Save your crying for later, Tropy - once we make it up these stairs and reach that door, we'll finally be on the eighth floor, where Brio's lab is. You don't see me griping and complaining while I'm sweating buckets!"

"Yet you were complaining about how dark the castle was when we first entered inside...also, where on earth is Uka?"

"He should be joining us shortly...or so I hope. Haven't seen that floating mask at all today. Maybe he ran away, went to go torture someone else for a living. Hopefully he sticks to it!"

After going up many flights of stairs, Cortex and company finally arrived on the eighth floor, and entered through a door. They continued down the hallway, minding their own business...before being ambushed from behind.

"Master Cortex!" exclaimed N. Gin, as he and the minions tackled Cortex, Nina, and Tropy to the floor. "We have come to ask you a serious question!" Cortex would fight N. Gin off of him, before getting up and seeing his minions gathered.

"Did I not tell you fools to wait back at the castle until I return?!" scolded Cortex. "And what is this 'serious' question that you have to ask me so?"

"Well, let's just say that this question...has a little something to do...with favoritism." N. Gin twiddled with his fingers, nervously looking down at the floor. "Who do you think is the best..."

"You know what, hold that thought...how did you minions even get here? Did you arrive on this floor before the three of us did?"

"We pretty much took a ride on that elevator over there," replied Komodo Moe, pointing at an elevator from a far distance behind him. Cortex saw this elevator, and his face sank.

"Hmph, knew there was an elevator all along," smirked Tropy.

"So if there was an elevator...and you used it to make it up here...then that would mean..."

"Dr. Cortex, is that you?" a voice asked Cortex; the mad scientist turned around, and saw Aku, floating near Crash who was standing at the end of the hallway, mindlessly waving to his arch-nemesis. "About time you made it up here, should've taken the elevator like the rest of us did! Brio's over in his lab, waiting for you."

"Blast it! Blast it, blast it, BLAST IT!" Cortex fell to the floor in anger, slamming his fist with rage. "That filthy marsupial beat me to Brio's lab! Why must Crash always win against me, how come I never prove myself victorious?!"

"Quite honestly, it's not that hard to see why," replied Nina, accruing a quick glare from Cortex.

"Ah, I see you've brought your minions as well. Splendid. There should be enough room in Brio's lab for everyone.

* * *

Contrary to what Aku thought, there wasn't enough room in Brio's lab, as everyone was closely packed together. There was scarcely any breathing room for anyone.

"Glad you all could join me today," Brio said to those present. "Wish the conditions were more feasible for everyone, but for now, it'll do...so Dr. Cortex, did Collator come to speak with you and your father?"

"Yes, and he told me to come speak with you," replied Cortex, squished in-between Kong and Tiny. "Brought Nina and Tropy along, in case it was just a trap and you were trying to pull punches."

"Riiiiiight...anyways, I'm sure you all remember Gemstone Island, the place where we had your little adventure involving that prophecy and all. Well I have invented a machine that will transport you back to that island, and I must transport you there right away...for an evil, powerful force has risen..."

"What exactly is this 'evil, powerful force' you speak of?" questioned Coco, as Brio dug into his compartment, and pulled out a mask that looked familiar to everyone.

"I'll just let you see this, it'll give you a good indication of whom you're going up against..." Brio would hold up the mask for everyone to see...

...and that mask, was Uka. The floating witchdoctor mask was lifeless - his mouth was open, but nothing was coming out of it. His eyes were unblinking; it looked like Uka was frozen in time.

However, there were words written across Uka's face, words that were written in a somewhat threatening way. Like whoever wrote it was trying to send a message. Crash would take a close inspection at the lifeless Uka, seeing the following words written on him:

 _The Dark Confederation has risen..._

 **End of Chapter 1**

* * *

Woo hoo, first chapter, in the books! Hopefully you all enjoyed it. Not gonna lie, coming up with a title for this story was somewhat hard, but I hope to stick to it. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2: The Return to Excalibur

_Previously..._

 _"Glad you all could join me today," Brio said to those present. "Wish the conditions were more feasible for everyone, but for now, it'll do...so Dr. Cortex, did Collator come to speak with you and your father?"_

 _"Yes, and he told me to come speak with you," replied Cortex, squished in-between Kong and Tiny. "Brought Nina and Tropy along, in case it was just a trap and you were trying to pull punches."_

 _"Riiiiiight...anyways, I'm sure you all remember Gemstone Island, the place where we had your little adventure involving that prophecy and all. Well I have invented a machine that will transport you back to that island, and I must transport you there right away...for an evil, powerful force has risen..."_

 _"What exactly is this 'evil, powerful force' you speak of?" questioned Coco, as Brio dug into his compartment, and pulled out a mask that looked familiar to everyone._

 _"I'll just let you see this, it'll give you a good indication of whom you're going up against..." Brio would hold up the mask for everyone to see..._

 _...and that mask, was Uka. The floating witchdoctor mask was lifeless - his mouth was open, but nothing was coming out of it. His eyes were unblinking; it looked like Uka was frozen in time._

 _However, there were words written across Uka's face, words that were written in a somewhat threatening way. Like whoever wrote it was trying to send a message. Crash would take a close inspection at the lifeless Uka, seeing the following words written on him:_

 _The Dark Confederation has risen..._

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Return to Excalibur**

"What could have possibly happened to Uka?" wondered Cortex, as he and the others looked at the lifeless Uka in Brio's lab. "I do remember him telling me that he was going on a walk around the island...if that was even possible for him...but I never would have expected something like this to happen to him!"

"I'm not exactly sure what transpired to Uka, but I do know that the Dark Confederation was trying to send a message through this measure," replied Brio, who was holding the lifeless Uka. "They must be looking for a fight...and we'll just have to give it to them!"

"Any idea where the Dark Confederation might be?" asked Yaya.

"You all remember Collator, from Gemstone Island, is that correct?" Everyone would nod their heads - except for Fake Crash, who was left scratching his head and wondering why the name Collator sounded so familiar to him. "He came to visit me not long ago, and told me about some Dark Confederation developments that have been going on for some time now. He might tell you a thing or two."

"Oh yeah, Collator came to Cortex's castle when he was busy, and told him the same thing!" Dingodile spoke up. "Though Cortex didn't think much of it - he just continued whatever he was doing like nothing bad was going on!"

"I did think much of it, for your information Dingodile...while I was using the bathroom afterwards," Cortex defended himself, leading many to roll their eyes at him. "Most of the information Collator told me slipped out of my head once I was finished - what did he say again that was so important?"

"Only you, Cortex, only you..." Brio sighed as he facepalmed. "How about I take you to Gemstone Island? Someone there will explain to you all the entirety of the situation at hand."

"And how exactly are you going to take us to Gemstone Island?" inquired Crunch. "We pretty much had to crash at sea in order to get there!"

"Glad you asked that, Crunch - I've been working on a machine in my spare time that will transport you to Gemstone Island and back in times of emergency. Works similar to Cortex's Psychetron."

"The Psychetron being my finest creation," bragged Cortex, as some rolled their eyes at the mad scientist yet again.

"Thank you for info, Cortex..." Coco would say to the N head, before redirecting her attention to Brio. "What about the others, like Von Clutch and Pasadena? If we're going on another full-scale adventure to save the world and stuff, we should at least allow some others to tag along."

"I'll alert them and Archie Cortex about the situation while you're in Gemstone Island. We shall meet up with you in due time. But now, I must take you all to Gemstone Island! Let me get my device ready...everyone stand together on the pad over there."

So everyone did as they were told, standing on the pad that Brio pointed at. With our heroes (and unlikely heroes) banded together, Brio would key in some calibrations, until the pad began glowing. And once Brio pulled a switch...

...Crash and company were warped away, gone in an instant.

* * *

A mere moment later, our heroes would wind up in the main square of Excalibur, the capital of Gemstone Island. Everything pretty much looked the same as it did four years ago, albeit with new advertisements and signs and whatnot.

"Ah, it feels good to be back in Gemstone Island..." remarked Aku, as he inhaled and exhaled the air. "Wonder if Grantor and his friends still remember us!"

"They better, otherwise I'll make them remember...with AND without that memory ray gun Brio gave me," stated Cortex, before digging into his pocket and pulling out a collar, ready to give it to Crash. "Crash, I know that we have our differences, and that we don't get along with each other that well, and that I pretty much depend on you and your siblings to help file my taxes, even though a grown man like myself should be doing that myself...but desperate times comes desperate measures. And I'm afraid that we're in such times now. Because of the likelihood of us working together again, I would like to give to you..."

"Crash Bandicoot, is that you?!" a voice would call out to Crash from afar. Crash and company looked ahead, and saw a gleeful old badger, wearing a black and white robe, near a statue. The old badger would run up to Crash, before picking up the bandicoot and squeezing him tight. "Oh, it's been so long since we last saw each other!"

"Stop it man, you're hurting his insides!" Aku told the badger, fearing for Crash's safety.

"Hush, you don't know if I'm hurting Crash or not..." The elderly badger would look at Crash, and see the poor marsupial gasping for air. "Oh my dear, I really am hurting Crash! My sincerest apologies, my boy." Grantor would place Crash back on the ground, patting him on the head and allowing him to catch his breath. "It is so great to see all of you back in Excalibur again, after four long years! You all remember my name, right?"

"Yes, we all know who you are, Grantor..." Coco said to the badger, who mentored our heroes in their last adventure. "It's great seeing you again, although you haven't really changed that much since we last saw each other. Not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing."

"Well when you're an old guy like myself, there's hardly anything about you that changes...how about you all come over to my place? You're welcome to stay for as long as you like!"

* * *

Grantor would take our heroes to his home - a cozy mansion that they lived in during their last adventure - and was enjoying a conversation with Crash and company...well, everyone save for Crash, since Crash was unable to speak at the moment. They were mainly discussing matters about the Dark Confederation.

"So I take it you already know everything there is to know about the Dark Confederation, is that correct?" Grantor would ask our heroes, sipping from his cup of tea.

"Not exactly everything, but we know the basic details and stuff," answered Fake Crash. "Collator warned us about the Dark Confederation, and their plans to destroy the whole freaking universe! We don't really know the reason behind their intentions, though."

"I'm afraid I don't know either, Fake Crash...there has been a lot of Dark Confederation developments in the neighboring island, Keystone Island, and it has our island government greatly concerned."

"Do any of the students know about the Dark Confederation?" asked Crunch. "Like the students who went to Chantex's Academy and stuff?"

"They possibly heard some bits and details about the Dark Confederation when they were evil, but as far as knowing the recent developments, I doubt they're fully aware of the situation. They're off doing their own thing now and pursuing their own goals, free from being evil."

"At least they're doing something positive with their lives after that whole Dark Fate saga," remarked Tropy, as he stroked the whiskers on his face. "Are those rascals in town, or are they spread throughout this island."

"Some remained in Excaibur - others are traveling through island. The only person staying with me is Mindy - she has been very swell company."

"Would you like some more tea, Grantor?" Mindy would enter the living room, holding a tea kettle. You might remember Mindy from the previous story, as the matchmaking girl from the Academy who wrote the prophecy scrolls detailing the Dark Fate.

"Why yes I do, Mindy - fill 'er up!" Grantor would hold out his teacup, and Mindy would fill it to the brim with tea.

"How about you guys, do any of you want some tea?" Mindy would ask our heroes, as Grantor sipped his tea happily.

"No thank you Mindy, but we're fine," replied Aku. Suddenly the phone rang, and it almost made Grantor spit out his tea.

"Oh dear, that must be the phone!" Mindy would place the teapot on a nearby table, as she ran out of the living room to answer the phone. "I'll be right back!"

"Wow, Grantor, I didn't know people called you," said Cortex, acting like Grantor was the last person anyone would give a call. "You really aren't an excitable person to have a conversation with, so I must say that I'm impressed!" Grantor was clearly dismissive of Cortex's comments, as evidenced by the angry look on his face.

"Grantor, there's something bad going on in Keystone Island!" Mindy would return to the living room to alert Grantor, after the call ended. "The chosen ones, the original ones...they've been kidnapped!"

"KIDNAPPED?!" exclaimed Grantor, getting up from his sofa as he stood up with vigor and force. His tea came spilling down his robe, though that was the least of his concerns at the moment. "Do you mean Tripp, Lilac, and Detlef?"

"Yes, I'm afraid they've been kidnapped, all three of them..." If you read the prequel story, you might remember Tripp, Lilac, and Detlef to be the original chosen ones, before Crash was given the chosen one distinction. "The person on the phone told me the trio were visiting a small town Reinhartz Valley, in Keystone Island, when the town was suddenly attacked."

"I see...there has been a lot of Dark Confederation hubbub going on in that valley, and that kidnapping must suggest that the Confederation has their eyes set upon the chosen trio, for whatever reason." Grantor, taking a deep breath, would turn towards our heroes. "Crash and friends, I want you all to go to Keystone Island, the neighboring island, and head over to Reinhartz Valley and rescue Tripp and the others, if you can. I have a private jet in my backyard that you can use to fly to Keystone Island - prime minister Henry Knox gave it to me, as a Christmas gift. I'm sure you all remember Mr. Knox, right? The minions shall keep me company, while you go out there and do your thing."

"Who in their right mind would want to give YOU of all people a private jet?" questioned N. Gin, receiving a nudge from N. Trance. "Uh, what I meant to say was...Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac will be saved! No need to panic!"

* * *

So our heroes went outside and found Grantor's private jet, which looked good as new. Once everyone was on board, the pilot of the jet, Cortex, would turn on the ignition, as the jet slowly rose up into the air.

"Just a reminder, I've never flown a jet before, so please forgive me if we crash," Cortex would tell the others before taking off. "Provided we survive a potential crash, that is."

"But Cortex, you've piloted an airship before, so this should be a breeze for you," Nina pointed out.

"An airship and a jet plane are two entirely different beasts. Don't ever assume that all flying vehicles act the same. Assumptions will get you nowhere!"

Nina would roll her eyes at her uncle as she sat back in her seat.

* * *

Thankfully for our heroes, nobody had to worry about Cortex crashing the jet plane and killing everyone, for the ride didn't really last that long. After several minutes, the heroes arrived at Keystone Island, as Cortex landed the jet plane in a valley littered with sand. The N head would seemingly land in the perfect spot, for there was a large sign up ahead as our heroes filed out of the jet plane.

"Reinhartz Valley..." Cortex looked up as he read the sign. "Yup, seems like we're here! Glad we arrived at the right location, since Grantor never gave us a map of Keystone Island. Not to mention that his jet plane didn't even come with a radar map! That would've been helpful!"

"I wonder if Brio and the others have arrived yet," said Fake Crash, as he tied his shoes. "Should we give them a heads up about where we are?"

"Knowing Brio, he's probably taking an eternity to get to Gemstone Island. Sometimes he takes forever to plan things. He went to the Academy of Evil with me and N. Gin, so I should now..." Cortex would dig into his pocket, and pull out the collar, ready to give it to Crash. "Now, Crash, now that we're starting a new adventure and all, I feel that now would be a convenient time to..."

"Put away that collar, you fool, now's not the time!" Crunch barked at Cortex, who mumbled as he placed the collar back in his pocket. "We're on a rescue mission here! Don't give that dumb collar to Crash until our mission is complete!"

Our heroes would embark on their rescue mission, scoping the entire Reinhartz Valley in search of Tripp, Lilac, and Detlef. Their search would lead them to a town...a town that was deliberately destroyed. Houses were damaged, and bodies were lying all over the ground...the Dark Confederation _definitely_ don't play around.

"My goodness, they totally ransacked this precious town..." Aku had this to say, as they went through the town. Given all the dead bodies lying around, both young and old, it appeared as if there was literally _nobody_ in town that survived the Dark Confederation attack. That is, until our heroes heard a voice.

"Please, I beg of you, don't shoot me!" a pleading voice was heard from afar. "I'm the last person from this town to be alive! I do not wish to go out like this!"

"One cannot willingly decide their own fate, old man..." said another voice, this one full of evil and malicious intent. "Like your townsfolk, you shall perish at the hands of the mighty Dark Confederation!"

Suddenly curious, our heroes went to where this confrontation was taking place, and soon they would find the mayor of the town, near his house, on his begging knees. Surrounding the mayor were five individuals, all of them wearing hooded cloaks and white masks with facial expressions on them. One of the hooded fellows, likely the leader, had a gun pointed at the mayor's forehead.

"Any last words, filthy old man?" asked the armed evildoer, ready to pull the trigger when ready.

"Before you dare to pull the trigger, I just want to say that...you got some company," the mayor would reply. The hooded fellows all looked confused, until they turned and saw our heroes, on the offensive.

"You suckas better let that geezer go, if you know what's good for ya!" Crunch pointed at the hooded men, challenging them to a fight. A fight our heroes shall get.

"Take the old man and ran away from here as far as you can," the leader of the hooded men said to one of his lackeys, as a hooded guy grabbed the mayor and ran away. "These peons should be nothing but a piece of cake..."

Unfortunately for the hooded dudes, they took our heroes for granted - despite the hand-to-hand combat the hooded men were employing, Crash and company would get the upper hand on the hooded dudes, taking them out with ease. Oh, and the hooded one who tried to run away with the mayor? He wouldn't get that far, as Cortex fired a plasma shot at him, sending him to the ground and saving the mayor in the process.

"Hooray, I did something, I actually did something!" cheered Cortex, raising his fists in the air. "Did you guys see that?"

"Chill out Cortex, all you did was shoot a guy in the back," remarked Yaya, after the fighting was over. "That's like the equivalent of walking an old lady across the street, if you ask me." Just then, the mayor came running towards our heroes, forever grateful for saving his life.

"Thank you all, for coming to my aid!" the mayor would thank Crash and company, shaking their hands and whatnot. "Had you not showed up, I would've been a goner...may I ask what your names are?"

Before any introductions could be made, a flying airship would suddenly appear up in the sky, its loud engine noises grabbing the attention of our heroes and the mayor. Everyone looked up and saw the airship, which strongly resembled Cortex's airship...albeit with a B instead of an N.

"I recognize that B from anywhere..." muttered Cortex, as a ladder was released from the airship and lowered towards the group. "...Dr. Nitrus Brio. That copycat, he totally copied my airship's design! I should sue him for plagiarism!" And would you know it, Brio would appear out of the airship, seeing our heroes and the mayor below.

"Everyone climb on board, I can take you all back to Gemstone Island on my airship!" Brio called out to everyone. "No pushing or shoving, you hear? Take your time!"

"We came here on Grantor's private jet, you sure we can't fly back on that?" Coco would call out to Brio. "Also, we're on a bit of a rescue mission here..."

"Grantor has a private jet? What? Why?! How?! What in the...you know what, once you all climb on board, we'll come for the private jet, I have enough room in my airship to take it back to Grantor. There is something very important I want you all to see, so hurry up!"

So Crash, Coco, the mayor, and everyone else would climb up the ladder, up to Brio's airship, and once everyone was inside, Brio would fly away, to pick up the private jet as he promised before returning to Gemstone Island.

Once the airship was gone, the leader of the hooded men would slowly rise his head up from the ground, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a fancy transceiver, pressing a button to turn it on. Who could he be contacting?

"I have some news to pass on...the chosen one, the bandicoot, has made his arrival in Keystone Island," the hooded man said, almost struggling to keep his head up. "He was a fighter, just like you said...I know you were unable to dispatch him for good last time, but this time around the deed should be done...signing off...for now..."

And with that, the hooded man ended his message, as he collapsed unto the ground with a thud.

 **End of Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3: Back Together Again

_Previously..._

 _Once the airship was gone, the leader of the hooded men would slowly rise his head up from the ground, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a fancy transceiver, pressing a button to turn it on. Who could he be contacting?_

 _"I have some news to pass on...the chosen one, the bandicoot, has made his arrival in Keystone Island," the hooded man said, almost struggling to keep his head up. "He was a fighter, just like you said...I know you were unable to dispatch him for good last time, but this time around the deed should be done...signing off...for now..."_

 _And with that, the hooded man ended his message, as he collapsed unto the ground with a thud._

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Back Together Again**

Our heroes - after picking up Grantor's private jet - were up in Brio's airship, off to who-knows-where. Brio informed the group that he was taking them to a very important location, although he hasn't specified what this location was just yet.

Also, Brio had brought some companions along, many of whom were present during the last adventure. There were five in total - Pasadena O'Possum, Ebeneezer Von Clutch, Chick, Stew, and even Cortex's father, Archie, whom the N head reunited with during the closing moments of the previous adventure.

"D-Dad?!" Cortex exclaimed when he saw his father in the airship, in the flesh.

"Neo, you've been repeating that same reaction ever since you got on the airship, can you please cut it out?" frowned Archie.

"Don't mind me father, I was just toying with you. There's something about you being so angry that's strangely endearing to me!"

"That's...that's just...you know what, just keep that to yourself, son."

"Feels great to be going on yet another adventure, yah," Von Clutch said to our heroes, after everyone got situated. "Still have fond memories of the last one - I even took pictures on my cellphone!"

"Von Clutch, you never took any pictures, remember?" Pasadena had to inform her boss. "You just kept turning your camera flashlight on! You have absolutely nothing in your image gallery!"

"Ah, I see...must've deleted all those pictures by accident. One day I will recover them."

"Well, Rilla Roo, it's great to have you back as our ever trusty cameraman," Chick said to the mutant gorilla, who was wielding a digital camera. "Just don't attempt to attack anyone with your tail, like you used to do last time, and you'll remain on the job."

"And no flirting with the ladies - don't think we didn't notice!" warned Stew, shaking his finger at Rilla Roo. "Leave that flirting stuff to a professional, like myself..."

However, there was one guest who happened to hail from Keystone Island - the mayor of the now destroyed town in Reinhartz Valley. He had yet to introduce himself to our heroes, and now was the perfect time for him to take care of that.

"I cannot simply thank you all enough for saving my hide back there," the mayor said to Crash and company. "The name's Jotham, by the way. Don't know who's who...may I ask for your names?"

"Let me start things off," volunteered Aku, as he gave his name to the mayor. He then gave the names of Cortex, Nina, Coco, Crunch, and everyone else, until he saved the best for last. "...and this bandicoot with the jean shorts is Crash Bandicot."

"Did you say, Crash, as in, Crash Bandicoot?" Aku, noticing how excited Jotham now was, nodded his head, as Jotham got even more excited. "The chosen one, Crash Bandicoot?!" Aku nodded his head yet again, as Jotham reached full excitement as he leaped up to the air in joy and squealed with happiness. "Oh I can't believe it, the chosen one Crash Bandicoot actually came to save me! Oh, what joy!" Jotham ran up to Crash and hugged him, and hugged him tight.

"I do believe your hurting his insides, Jotham..." informed Aku, as Jotham was quick to notice what he was doing. He released his hold on Crash, and lightly petted on on his shoulder.

"So sorry, Mr. Bandicoot, I was just excited to see you, that's all. Never did I imagine I would be standing in the mighty presence of the chosen one. You could've just told me to stop hugging you, I wouldn't budge. Are you able to speak?"

"Unfortunately he isn't able to, for he can only speak in unintelligible gibberish," explained Cortex. "As the mad scientist responsible for creating Crash, I should know. One would think that a 'chosen one' would master the English language...which is why I'm here to enforce that."

And now, the moment Cortex was waiting for...the N head pulled his collar out from his pocket, and walked over to Crash, just dying to finally put said collar around his neck.

"Now Crash, I know we had this conversation before, but if we're going on another perilous adventure, then you're gonna need to wear this collar so you can effectively communicate with other people, capiche?" Cortex said to the bandicoot, who nodded his head. "Good! Now put this collar on, and don't say anything until I tell you too."

So Crash took the collar from Cortex, and placed it around his neck, turning it on. Now, it was time for the moment of truth.

"Okay, so far so good...now Crash, say something!" ordered Cortex, hoping his collar would work. "Something, anything, just say it man!"

"...seriously, Cortex, you need to tell me to say a word less boring and original than 'something'," said Crash, speaking for the first time since his last adventure, much to the delight of Cortex and to the surprise of everyone else. "Doesn't really roll off the tongue..."

"Eureka, the collar worked!" Cortex was so excited, that he grabbed Crash and held him in a mini bear hug. "Take that, Tropy, told you I haven't lost a step!"

"You're...hurting...my insides..." wheezed Crash, finally able to voice his discomfort, as Cortex let go of the bandicoot. "Thank you."

"I see that you're able to speak again, Crash...that means we're officially rolling," remarked Brio, still piloting his airship, with the lifeless Uka on his dashboard. "Looks like I can finally supply you with a little information you might need for your next adventure."

"Oh yeah, that would be very helpful. So, it appears as if I'm the chosen one not only in Gemstone Island, but in Keystone Island as well...is that correct, Brio?"

"I'm afraid so...you were thrust into the chosen one role, much like how you were thrust into the chosen one role for Gemstone Island's prophecy. Keystone Island, well, they have a prophecy too, and it's called... **The Fallen Prognosticus**." -dramatic music- "Again with the stupid dramatic music?! Argh! I was hoping I wouldn't hear that again..."

"What can you tell us about this, **Fallen Prognosticus** , Brio?" asked Fake Crash. -dramatic music- "Hehe, I only asked that just to hear that music again...sounds kinda catchy."

"Please use the name of the prophecy in moderation, I can't stand to hear that dramatic tune one more time...but since you kindly asked, Fake Crash, let me just tell you that prophecy is very similar to the Dark Fate - there were three chosen ones, something bad happened to the chosen ones, Crash gets thrust into the chosen one role, and it's up to him to save the world. Crash is pretty much doing what the original chosen ones were meant to do."

"Not that I mind being the chosen one and all, but hearing about bad things happen to these, 'trios of destiny'...it sure is strange," remarked Crash, as he folded his arms. "Whatever happened to Keystone Island's trio?"

"That I do not know - I am only supplying you with the information Collator had given me. We'll learn more once we reach our destination. But before we get there, I want to make a very quick pit stop, so we can bring Cortex's minions on board. They'll be of great use."

"And what about that jet plane?" asked Pasadena, as Brio heaved a heavy sigh.

"...and I suppose we can give that jet plane back to Grantor. Don't even know why he would need one..."

* * *

Brio would make a quick pit stop at Excalibur, landing his airship at Grantor's mansion so he could not only drop off Jotham and Grantor's private jet, but also to bring Cortex's minions on board. Once that was done, Brio would fly his airship to the destination he alluded to earlier. It would be a destination that our heroes went to in their previous adventure - a destination where Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac trained at.

So when Brio landed his airship and everyone got out, our heroes were surprised to see a British Victorian castle, in red, blue, and yellow colors. This was the building in which Tripp and company trained at, although it had another use years later...

"Isn't this...the building where Chantex and his pupils resided?" asked Nina, as she took a good look at the building everyone believed was destroyed after the return of Exodus. You might remember Chantex, the evil green dragon from the previous adventure - feel free to go back to the prequel story and discover his true identity, if you aren't aware.

"Indeed, and now the castle has been restored to its original form, by some manner," replied Brio, holding the lifeless Uka in his arm. "Must be some kind of magic that brought this castle back to existence. Whatever the reason is, we must infiltrate this castle, and look for clues. We'll spit up into two groups - Chick and Stew, you lead the minions and Archie, while I lead everyone else."

"Aw yeah, leaders of the pack!" exclaimed Stew, as he exchanged a high five with Chick...only for Chick to screw up miserably. "...we'll work on that while we're in the castle."

"You know what, on second thought...Archie, I think you're more deserving of being the leader."

"Yes, that is a much more wise choice, Brio," remarked Archie, as Chick and Stew frowned and stomped their feet on the ground in anger.

"Don't mind if I ask, Dr. Brio, but what kind of 'clues' are we supposed to look for?" Coco asked the mad scientist.

"If I recall correctly, Kha Xuan, the man who trained the chosen ones, was a native from Keystone Island, who came over to Gemstone Island to train Tripp and friends," explained Brio. "I have a very sneaky everything inside the castle has been restored, and we must search for any evidence pertaining to the original chosen ones from Keystone Island."

"...and if there isn't any evidence?" N. Trance perked up. "Not a rhetorical question, I'm just extremely curious. This whole search thing is _really_ cutting into my daily talk show time..."

"Like you honestly watch that drivel...let's just head on inside and see if we can find anything of worth. And if we can't find anything, then we'll just head back to Excalibur, and I'll have to decide what we'll do from there."

So our heroes (and everyone else) marched towards the castle, with Brio opening the door (thankfully a key wasn't required to unlock the door, otherwise everyone would be screwed). The large group all took a step inside...

...and as they were doing so, a shadowy head peeked out from behind a large tree, watching Crash and company enter the castle. This head noticeably had horns, and a rather big snout...not to mention big nostrils. No, wait, you can't make out nostrils if the figure is shadowy. Please disregard that detail.

"The bandicoot is back...which must mean there's more trouble afoot," the mysterious figure said to himself, making sure the tree hid their entire body. "This must mean that Keystone Island's prophecy, **The Fallen Prognisticus**..." -dramatic music- "...holds true. Stupid dramatic tune nearly blowing my cover. Good thing nobody was around to hear that. I must make haste! Make my presence known to Crash Bandicoot right away!"

The mysterious figure would dart away from the tree - before taking off into the sky and flying with large wings.

 **End of Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4: Meandering in the Darkness

**Chapter 4: Meandering in the Darkness**

Our heroes...and the minions...and anyone else that wished to be included...were all inside what used to be Chantex's Academy - and the training grounds for Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac - as they were looking for clues surrounding the Dark Confederation. So far there was nothing but dark corridors and steep hallways; apparently our heroes were too lazy to even turn on the lights.

"Is there a light switch around here?" asked Crash, as our heroes were led through the castle by Brio. Aku and Uka served as the light sources, with light beams coming out of their eyes. "All this walking in the dark is making me bored...and a little scared."

"You can't be bored AND scared at the same time, Crash - trust me, I know from experience," Fake Crash told the bandicoot."Besides, what if we do find a light switch, and we turn the lights on, and we accidentally reveal a giant, blood-thirsty monster that eats us alive?! There might be one waiting for us at the end of the hallway!"

"If there is such a monster, we'll just feed Cortex to him and make a run for it, no loss gained whatsoever," replied Tropy, as Cortex shot a death glare at the master of time.

Suddenly, Aku's "lights" began to flicker, as the optical light beams flickered before turning off completely. That left Uka as the only light source available.

"Drat, my lights went out...knew I should've charged myself before coming here," frowned Aku, which led our heroes to give the mask questionable glances.

"Aku you're just a floating mask, why would you need to charge yourself for?" questioned Coco. "It's not like you're a flashlight or something."

"Well, Coco, if you were an ancient mask like myself, you would understand..."

Aku would be cut off when a loud growling noise was heard. Everyone looked around in fright, Uka included, wondering where that noise came from.

"Welp, guess there's a monster just up ahead..." panicked Fake Crash, his legs quivering. "Let's get Cortex ready for the sacrifice, just in case..."

"I don't think so, I didn't even agree upon to the terms!" frowned Cortex. "Besides, what am I always the popular choice for being the guniea pig?"

"Because you're extremely expandable and sometimes useless," answered Nina, leaving Cortex distraught. "Sorry Uncle Cortex, but it's the truth..."

The growling noise would be heard yet again, as our heroes were still left wondering where it came from. It sounded very close, like it was behind them...or rather _with_ them. Everyone turned their attention to Crunch, who was seen patting his stomach.

"Crunch shoulda grabbed a bite before coming to this place..." grimaced Crunch, as his stomach was grumbling, calling out for food. "Y'all know how my stomach can be when it don't get its nutrients!"

"Yeah...let's just keep pressing on forward, before we encounter any real dangers," said Brio, as he led our heroes through the dark corridor with Uka shedding light on the path before them.

Then unbeknownst to anyone, a flying beast zipped across the corridor, unheard and unseen...

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Elsewhere in the building, Archie led Cortex's minions, along with the reporting trio of Chick, Stew, and Rilla Roo, as they searched for clues. Archie was appointed the leader, since he was in this building back when Chantex took over.

"This place is strangely bringing back some rather vivid memories," remarked Archie, as he looked around searching with his trusty flashlight. "Bottled memories, I should say, as I've never been out of the basement that much..."

"I bet you and that Chantex guy were pretty tight with one another, huh?" asked Komodo Joe, showing off his blatant ignorance.

"What do you mean? Chantex and I never spoke a single word to one another - the only interactions I had were with Zeferino and Mildred. And for your information, Chantex was just an evil alter ego of Rossano Jacques, so I wish for you to stop using that name.

"Wow, someone is pretty sensitive about a guy they claim to have never met before...excuse me!"

"Oh, whatever, just keep your mouth shut. Make sure you pass the memo to Chick and Stew and their cameraman, I can hear them talking from up here..."

"As you can see folks, we're traveling through this building, which used to serve as a training ground for the original chosen ones," reported Chick, as he and Stew were giving viewers at home a rare inside look of the restored building. "But that's not the only purpose this building had..."

"That's right, Mr. Gizzardlips - this place was also the site of Chantex's Academy, right after the educational institution relocated from Excalibur!" added Stew. "That was when headmaster Rossano Jacques went evil and turned into a dragon, only to revert back to his normal self many years later thanks to the help of Crash and friends!"

"Unfortunately Mr. Jacques is no longer here with us today, for he had made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up his life to not only protect this island, but to save the entire universe as we knew it. If not for him, Crash would have never fulfilled the prophecy."

"But wait folks, there's more! There is a new prophecy on the horizon, and the events transcribed are believed to be occurring today. This prophecy, **The Fallen** **Prognosticus**..." -dramatic music- "...is Keystone Island's own fancy prophecy, and the evil baddies attempting to unlock that prophecy is...the Dark Confederation!"

"So far we only know two members of the Confederation - Azalea Fuentes and Iseult Liston, whose whereabouts are currently unknown following the defeat of Exodus. Two former members, Daniil Yerofeyev and his apprentice Dave, dropped out of the Confederation after being reformed."

"How do those two know so much...?" Archie would ask the minions about Chick and Stew, as the fowl reporters continued with their reporting.

"'Insider knowledge', they proclaim," answered Roo, as he hopped through the hallways in his straitjacket. "Someone's definitely feeding them information..."

Archie and company kept on walking, until Archie bumped into a wall. Dead end. The scientist would flash his flashlight upwards, pointed at the wall, and was astonished to see a giant painting up high.

"What's that?" wondered Tiny, as everyone looked up at the painting; it included a wombat, some ginger dude, and a dark-skinned girl, with a blonde woman standing over the three. This painting greatly piqued Archie and company's interest.

"Why do I feel like I've seen these four before..." wondered Archie, as he stroked his chin.

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Von Clutch was getting bored from walking. So bored, that Pasadena literally had to carry the German cyborg over her back, like he was her personal backpack. Our heroes were becoming bored as well, but Brio kept encouraging them to press onward.

"Come on you guys, I know we'll find something sooner or later," the mad scientist said, leading everyone to groan. "What could possibly be more important than this?!"

"Going shopping," answered Yaya.

"Doing some aerobic exercises," answered Crunch.

"Wasting my precious money to buy some chia pets off of Amazon," answered Cortex. "And I won't stop until they make on in my likeness!"

All of a sudden, a flying beast flew across the corridor in front of our heroes, as Brio stopped everyone in place. Everyone waited to see if the flying thing would come out.

"Everyone hold still, it appears we have a bit of an intruder on our hands," Brio advised the others, as they remained still. "It's a good thing I brought some bait, for moments like these..."

Brio dug into his imaginary pocket, and pulled out a T-bone steak and threw it out in the open. The smell and aroma of the steak was hard to resist, and it was enough to even make Fake Crash's mouth water. So much, that the saliva dripping from his mouth made puddles on the floor, next to Tropy's feet. Tropy looked down and saw the puddles of saliva, before looking at Fake Crash.

"Sorry about that," Fake Crash apologized, wiping away the saliva from his mouth. The t-bone steak the bandicoot wished to devour remained in its spot...

...until the flying beast returned, flying towards the steak. It would make its landing as it devoured the steak, tearing the meat with its talons and scaring the portions down its mouth. It was left out in the open...ripe for the picking.

"Now, Uka, shine your light on that winged fiend!" ordered Brio, as Uka flashed his light on the flying beast before him. Everyone soon got a good glimpse of the flying creature...and as it turned out, it was a familiar face, one our heroes were well familiar with...

"Valestrom?!" everyone uttered in unison, as the dragon in question looked up at our heroes guiltily, with pieces of the steak in his mouth. For those of you who read the previous story, you might remember Valestrom as the original villain, who remained the main antagonist for 26 chapters until he was arrested. Now, the dragon was...

"Everybody get him!" commanded Crash, pointing at Valestrom, as our heroes approached the dragon and threw him to the floor, before proceeding to beat him up. Showing no mercy at all.

"Stop it, stop it I say, stop it!" barked Valestrom, making our heroes cool off as the dragon rose to his feet. "I'm not a bad guy anymore, don't you remember? I made a formal apology to the prime minister, Henry Knox, and asked for forgiveness...and he forgave me for my actions. So technically, I'm on the good side now!"

"Oh...wait a minute, you never told us that! You not telling us deserves a beatdown!" Crash and company threw Valestrom back unto the floor, as they continued the senseless beating. Everyone took part in the beating except for Brio, who kept his distance.

"That is enough - leave the dragon alone!" the mad scientist ordered, as our heroes backed away from Valestrom. The dragon slowly rose back to his feet, and faced Brio. "Don't think we've met formally before, have we? Dr. Nitrus Brio's the name - I'm a mad scientist, just like Cortex. Been friends with Cortex from a very young age."

"A lifelong friend of Cortex's...I know you must have had a very depressing childhood with that guy," replied Valestrom, leading Cortex to hold his head down in sadness and sigh. "I'm Valestrom, the dragon Yerofeyev hired to hunt down the Mavericks. Think I remember you..."

"I was the one who essentially saved everyone before Exodus made her appearing. I've also studied the prophecy scrolls detailing the Dark Fate - although I wasn't really interested in it until my chance encounter with Lilac. Might I ask why you're here?"

"Well, ever since Henry Knox forgave me of my past deeds...I thought I could perhaps make up to Crash and friends for antagonizing against them. Want to be on their side, rather than being against them, you know? And when I heard the news about the Dark Confederation uprising, that's when I decided to make my move."

"I see...I see...do you perhaps have any 'insider information' that you could supply us with?"

"There is something that I've heard from an associate of mine - and I'm not sure if this is true or not - but they replaced Dave, the Beta of the Confederation, and that replacement, along with the appointment of the new Confederation leader, might've led to the Confederation's return."

This bit of information was greatly concerning to our heroes - not only did the Dark Confederation found a new Beta, but they also found a new leader to succeed Daniil Yerofeyev. And unlike Yerofeyev, this new leader might be genuinely evil...

"Unfortunately that's all I can share with you, for now - I don't know the full identities of the Beta or the new leader," continued Valestrom. "But I'm assuming the Confederation is doing everything possible to keep both identities a secret for the time being."

"Quick question: what about Azalea and Iseult?" asked Aku; those two were the Gamma and Delta, respectively. "I recall those two vanishing after Cortex took care of them with the Excalibur sword. Have they been replaced as well, or are they still alive?"

"They might be still alive - I'd say that beam Cortex fired at them from the sword just warped them to a different location. So I honestly wouldn't be surprised if..."

Suddenly a ring tone was heard...some strange country music was heard. That ring tone came from Cortex's phone, and everyone glanced at Cortex as the N head took his cellphone out of his pocket.

"Just to be perfectly clear, I lost a bet a Pinstripe," Cortex had this to say as he checked the caller ID, and guess who it was? _Pinstripe._ "Pinstripe, what is it? I'm trying to learn vital information here!"

"That's good and all Dr. Cortex, that's great...but I think Archie might've stumbled upon a bombshell of a discovery," answered Pinstripe, as Cortex's phone was on speakerphone. That meant everyone heard what Pinstripe, and everyone was left intrigued. "Or at least Archie thinks it's a bombshell of a discovery."

"And where is this 'bombshell of a discovery' that my father found! Can't believe he found something important faster than I did...drat!"

"Yeah, that's nothing to be ashamed of, buddy...but anyways, we're on the top floor, in some fancy shmancy room. Think this might've been the headmaster room, when Chantex was around. Or it could be something else. You'll be the judge..."

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Taking a staircase that almost seemed to take forever, our heroes, along with Brio and Valestrom, would arrive at the room where the minions and others were. Upon seeing Valestrom, the minions all got on the offensive, ready to take the dragon down.

"At ease, boys, I am a reformed dragon - I'm on the good side now!" explained Valestrom, as the minions cooled off. Except for Tiny, that is.

"Tiny won't believe you unless you have donuts," the minion said. "Glazed donuts." Dingodile would nudge Tiny, leading the tiger to pout.

"Yes, Valestrom is speaking nothing but the truth," amended Brio. "He already asked Mr. Knox to forgive him for his past transgressions, and received his wish. And now, he is a changed dragon...and thankfully, he isn't extremely remorseful. That would be _very_ annoying."

"Been a good while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" Valestrom said to Archie, as he approached the scientist. If you recall from the previous story - the previous story's _backstory_ \- Valestrom met Archie on N. Sanity Island, and tasked them to turn the eight Mavericks into masks.

"Well it has been four years...and I haven't seen you once ever since Exodus' defeat. And don't think I forgot about that time you left me alone to die in that wretched castle..."

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten either, and I have learned from my mistakes. Following Yerofeyev might've been my biggest mistake of all. Which leads me to ask the following question..." Valestrom held out his hand to Archie. "...water under the bridge?" Archie looked at Valestrom's hand very curiously, and after much thought...

"The whole prophecy is over with, so it's all water under the bridge with me," Archie shook hands with Valestrom, as the two individuals put their past history and beef to bed. Valestrom and Archie were both on friendly terms now.

With the handshake over with, everyone focused their attention to the painting of the wall, with the boy, girl, and wombat, with the woman presiding over them.

"So Brio, any guesses as to who the individuals in that painting are?" Archie asked the scientist, who was stroking his chin.

"Can't say I have any, never seen these four before," replied Brio. "We should take this painting and show it to Grantor, see if it jogs his memory. Unless you know, Valestrom..."

"Yes, these four individuals, they all look strangely familiar to me..." said Valestrom, deep in thought. "Yerofeyev had shown me pictures of them, I believe. Haven't heard from them in a very, very long time. They're all from Keystone Island, and the lady is the mentor of the three huddled together."

"The woman mentored those three?" inquired Crash. "Was she a mentor to them in a way like Kha Xuan was to Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac?" Valestrom nodded his head. "So if that's the case, then that must mean..."

"...that's right, Crash Bandicoot. Those three - the three in that painting - used to be the chosen one trio of Keystone Island."

 **End of Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5: Bashful Bon Voyage

_Previously..._

 _Everyone focused their attention to the painting of the wall, with the boy, girl, and wombat, with the woman presiding over them._

 _"So Brio, any guesses as to who the individuals in that painting are?" Archie asked the scientist, who was stroking his chin._

 _"Can't say I have any, never seen these four before," replied Brio. "We should take this painting and show it to Grantor, see if it jogs his memory. Unless you know, Valestrom..."_

 _"Yes, these four individuals, they all look strangely familiar to me..." said Valestrom, deep in thought. "Yerofeyev had shown me pictures of them, I believe. Haven't heard from them in a very, very long time. They're all from Keystone Island, and the lady is the mentor of the three huddled together."_

 _"The woman mentored those three?" inquired Crash. "Was she a mentor to them in a way like Kha Xuan was to Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac?" Valestrom nodded his head. "So if that's the case, then that must mean..."_

 _"...that's right, Crash Bandicoot. Those three - the three in that painting - used to be the chosen one trio of Keystone Island."_

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 **Chapter 5: Bashful Bon Voyage**

While our heroes were out at the revived castle doing their thing, their mentor Grantor was at his mansion in Excalibur, cleaning off his private jet with a cloth. He would complete this action rather diligently in his backyard, as his de facto caregiver Mindy looked on.

"Don't mind if I ask this Grantor, but...why did you receive that jet in the first place?" Mindy asked the elderly badger. "Doesn't fit you by the looks of it...and I can't even imagine you riding around in a jet all over Gemstone Island."

"It was a gift from the prime minister himself, I tell you, I had to accept this plane," replied Grantor. "When someone, especially a ruler of an island, gives you free stuff, you can't just pass it down all willy nilly, it would make you look foolish. You accept whatever you can, regardless of whether or not it makes you look like a freeloader."

"That's a...pretty bad message to tell someone, but whatever works best for you..." Suddenly the doorbell rang. "Grantor, the doorbell just rang - Crash and the others must've returned!"

"Well that was quick, was expecting them to be at that castle longer than that. So much for doing my aerobic exercises."

Dropping his cloth to the ground, Grantor would follow Mindy inside the mansion, as Mindy opened the front door. Standing at the door were our heroes, who all stepped inside the mansion, along with the minions, the reporting trio, Archie, and...

"VALESTROM?!" Grantor exclaimed with much anger and ferocity when the dragon stepped foot in his mansion. "Mindy, guard my deep fryer and record collection! I shall take this demented dragon to school in a jiffy!" Grantor grabbed the nearest weapon he could find - a cane - and got into a fighting stance, staring down a now ticked Valestrom.

"Has everyone forgotten, everyone except for Henry Knox?" the dragon groaned. "I'm no longer an evil guy...I'm changed, reformed, and ready to..." Before Valestrom could finish, Grantor leaped unto the dragon and hit him multiple times with his cane, refusing to stop.

"Crash, quickly, call the police so we can take this wretched dragon to jail where he belongs!" Crash simply remained put. "You know what...call a government agent instead, so the SWAT team can come here and take Valestrom to federal prison! He deserves all the torture and punishment he can get!"

"Grantor chill out man, Valestrom isn't a bad dude anymore," Crash explained to the elderly badger, having to restrain him. "He's on the good side now!"

"Valestrom? On the good side?" Grantor stopped attacking Valestrom, who was writhing on the floor in pain. "What possibly makes you think that?"

"We encountered him at the restored castle, and he told us about how he asked Henry Knox for forgiveness. And from that point onward, Valestrom pretty much did a face turn, and now he's a good guy, like us!"

"The bandicoot speaks nothing but the truth..." remarked Valestrom, still dealing with the pain.

"Fine, if whatever Crash says is true, then it must be true regardless." Grantor, albeit reluctantly, placed his cane back where it belonged, and helped Valestrom back to his feet. "Sorry for attacking you, it was mostly done out of utter impulse. Please forgive me..."

"It's fine, it's fine...Crash and his buddies all ganged up on me back at the rejuvenated castle, so it's all good. Not that many people know that I left the dark side after the defeat of Exodus."

"You left the dark side and you never told any of us?!" frowned Pinstripe, loading up his Tommy gun, as the minions all got on the offensive. "How could you not tell such vital information to us?! Let's get him, boys!"

"No more beatings, two is enough for today as it is!" Valestrom fired at the minions, who all cooled down. Some of them really wanted to throw some hands.

"Hey Grantor, we found a painting at the castle and we thought you might be interested in seeing it," explained Stew, who was holding the painting in question, as he handed the artwork to the elderly badger. "Do any of the individuals in the painting look familiar to you?" Grantor accepted the painting from Stew...

...and then, in an act of odd behavior, turned around and walked away from the others as he analyzed the painting. Everyone looked confused, as Mindy ran over to check on Grantor.

"Earth to Grantor, Earth to Grantor..." chanted Von Clutch, trying to bring the badger back to reality. "...what about Mars to Grantor, would that work?"

"No point in finding out, we just gotta get Grantor out of la la land," replied Pasadena, as she went over to Grantor and tapped him on the shoulder. "Grantor, you okay? You look like a deer in headlights!"

"These three...I recognize these three..." remarked Grantor, his hands shaking rather violently, like he discovered a pot of gold. The others came over to Grantor, to see why the elderly badger was so excited. "...and the lady behind them...I recognize her too..."

"Good for you, what do you want a participation award?" frowned Cortex, dying to know who the four individuals were. "Just tell us who those three and that lady are already, we don't have all day you know!"

"Yes, it's all coming back to the me...the boy, his name is Andreq; the wombat is named Herzog; and that girl, she's Naomi. These three used to be the chosen one trio of the Keystone Island, and now their whereabouts are unknown. They were like children to me..."

"You already said that about this island's chosen one trio..." murmured Roo. "And that lady behind them, what about her? Was she their mentor or something?"

"She was indeed their mentor - her name, if I recall correctly, is Otylie Sedlacek. She was to those three what Kha Xuan was to Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac. In fact, Otylie and Kha Xuan were MARRIED!"

This was a great shock to everyone in Grantor's mansion. Kha Xuan, the mentor of Gemstone Island's chosen trio, married? To a woman who was the mentor of the chosen trio of the neighboring island, Keystone Island. That deserved a spit take.

"Somebody give me a cup of coffee!" ordered Pinstripe, as Von Clutch fetched the potoroo a cup of coffee. "Thanks, man." Pinstripe would drink the entire cup, before spitting the contents out and saying the following: "KHA XUAN WAS MARRIED?!"

"Took you guys long enough to give a reaction...and yes, he was indeed married, to Otylie Sedlacek. You may not know this already, but Kha Xuan was actually a naturalized citizen of Keystone Island, who came over to this island to train Tripp, Detlef, and Lilac."

"Was this Sedlacek chick super desperate or something?" questioned Crunch, leading Coco to slap him. "What, Crunch ain't trying to say Xuan was ugly or anything! There's plenty of other guys out there more appealing than Xuan!"

"Like who? Tell us, Mr. Crunch..."

"Well, uh, there's uh...um...you know what, Crunch got nothing."

"Just as I figured...well, we can't just dawdle here in Gemstone Island and let the Dark Confederation run amok over in the neighboring island. We must put their reign of terror to an end, before things truly start to escalate."

"Much agreed, Grantor - we should leave for Keystone Island right away," said Brio. "Thankfully I have enough room in my airship for you and Mindy to tag along. Since we're headed to Keystone Island, where should we arrive at specifically?"

"We should make our way to Pridwen, the capital of Keystone Island. I own a mansion there, one which I haven't been to in decades. Bet you I already lost my lease for it...the government will be coming for my behind for sure!"

"You don't have to worry about the government, Grantor - we can all be your fall guys!" suggested Fake Crash, as everyone glared at the bandicoot. "What, we can all take the blame, and allow Grantor to live the rest of his life at Keystone Island in peace!"

"For your information Fake Crash, I'M the fall guy around here..." clarified Cortex, before realizing the words that came out of his mouth. "...shouldn't have said that out loud."

"Everybody board my airship, we have zero time to waste!" announced Brio, as everyone filed out of the mansion. "Feel free to make any bathroom stops if you must - my airship doesn't have bathrooms yet."

"Tiny has to go real bad!" said Tiny, as he hurried to the bathroom. As he ran up up the stairs, the tiger kept farting with each step he made, leading the others to make disgusted faces.

"Looks like our trip to Keystone Island's gonna have to be delayed for a good while..."

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After Tiny was done murdering the toilet, everyone was up in the airship, heading to Keystone Island. During the ride on Brio's airship, Crash's curiosity led him to ask the following question to Grantor...

"Any idea what Chantex - I mean, Rossano Jacques' - former pupils are up to?" Crash would ask the elderly badger. "Like you know, Trent, Cynzia, Xavier, Inez, and the rest of them?"

"Ever since Exodus was defeated and Jacques made his ultimate sacrifice, the students have all pursued their own interests, making the most of their time with their expertise," replied Grantor, looking out a nearby window. "Some remained in Gemstone Island, others went to Keystone Island to chase their dreams. They would pay me a visit every now then these past four years, though I've noticed that in terms of their appearance, they've been getting...older."

"I'm sure those amulet thingies they wore around their necks might have something to do with that."

"Precisely - it was how they looked the same almost thirty years before, when the amulets were first introduced to them. Not quite sure who made the amulets, but I hope to find out the answer soon. Rather it would just come to me, than having to find it on my own. Got more important matters to take care of."

"Look you guys, it's a pirate ship!" N. Gin alerted everyone, drawing everybody to the window he was looking through. The cyborg would point at the pirate ship in question, floating away on the sea surface. "And look - whoever's piloting it is waving to us! What if this is just a scheme...to bait us into thinking he's our friend when in actuality, he wants to murder us all with CANNONBALLS?!"

"Hold on just a second, that person piloting the ship is a sea otter..." Aku peered through the window, getting a closer look at the captain. "Could it be...it is! Behrab, from the Academy! He must be on his way to Keystone Island."

"Is that really him?" asked Brio, who was too busy piloting his own (air)ship to see Behrab. "How did he know that it was us in this airship? N. Gin's gigantic head must've gave it away, somehow..."

"Hooray, I'm not the butt of jokes this time!" exclaimed Cortex, wanting to celebrate this middling achievement with someone. That someone being Tropy. "Gimme some five, Tropy!"

"Keep your filthy hands away from me if you wish to live," ordered Tropy, as Cortex retracted his hand.

"Alright folks, we're nearing Keystone Island!" announced Brio, seeing the island in full focus. "We should be able to reach Pridwen in due time, barring any comets or rockets or even some stupid bird flying through the propellers and messing up the engine."

As fate would have it, a vulture conspicuously flying through the air, minding its own business, was sucked up by the air vents of the airship. The engine started acting up, before going out completely. The airship, now catching on fire, would crash towards the ocean ablaze, exploding before even touching the water surface. It was obvious enough that nobody would survive that crash, so as a result, our heroes - and everyone affiliated with them - were most likely dead...

 **End of Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Prognosticus**

...or so they would be dead, if not for their parachute bags, as everyone descended on a parachute. Talk about acting on the fly.

"Aren't you guys glad that I advised you all to take a parachute bag, for emergency precautions?" Brio asked the others, who were grateful to be alive. Valestrom didn't really need a parachute, mainly because he could fly and stuff. "You'd all be goners, if not for my forward-thinking!"

"I see Behrab's pirate ship, just up ahead," observed Nina, taking full sight of the otter's ship. "Let's try and land on his ship - hopefully he won't mind having a few guests."

So everyone would fly towards Behrab's ship, and stick a perfect landing on the deck. Everyone except for N. Trance, who mistimed his landing and cracked his shell as a result. Valestrom would land on the the pirate ship, and help N. Trance up to his feet.

"Thank you," thanked N. Trance, once he was back up again. "Gonna need a large band aid to patch up my head..."

"Might even need some superglue," said Crash, though N. Trance wasn't that keen on that option.

"Ahoy mateys!" said a certain otter, piloting the ship. "Judging by the sound of that voice, it appears I have some familiar faces upon my ship..." This otter, named Behrab, turned around and saw Crash and company, on the ship's deck. "Well, if it isn't the famous bandicoot, known as Crash! Back at it again, with some friends and frenemies...and Valestrom?!"

"Please don't beat me up, please don't beat me up, please don't beat me up..." pleaded Valestrom, before Behrab took out an oboe and spat out a large tranquilizer dart at Valestorm, striking the dragon in his leg. Valestrom would fall on his side, in a tranquilized state. "...eh, you know what, this is _much_ better than another typical beatdown."

"Glad I took care of him, just for precautionary measures...so! Crash Bandicoot, how are ya, and why'd you bring that dragon along with ya?"

"I've been doing just fine, just hanging in there..." replied Crash. "Oh, and Valestrom, he told us that he's reformed, and apparently he wants to work with us now, to stop the Dark Confederation."

"The Dark Confederation, eh? Been hearing a lot of jib jab about them in recent times. My boy Trent has been telling me all sorts of stuff about them - a part of him still thinks Azalea and Iseult are still out there, carrying on the deeds of the organization."

"You and Trent are still tight with one another?" Behrab would laugh at Crash's question, like he was some idiot asking if one plus one really equaled two. Thankfully there aren't that many people in the world that would fight you over that.

"Of course we're still tight! Being together and hanging out for so many years really helped with our bond. I was out at sea to fetch Trent some sea salt oysters from Gemstone Island, since they don't offer any at Keystone Island. That's where I'm headed - Trent and Mildred moved to Keystone a year ago, and even started up their own business. Moving on up in the world!"

"Sweet, because we're headed to Keystone Island ourselves. Trying to reach the island's capital, Pridwen."

"Shiver me timbers, I'm headed to Pridwen as well! Trent and Mildred's business is operated there. The quickest way to Pridwen is through their canal, which we shall reach in a jiffy. By the sound of things, it seems like you mateys are all revved up for another adventure...one that I would adore to be a part of. We shall reach our destination very soon. Pridwen, here we come!"

Fancying the idea of going on an adventure with Crash and company, Behrab would steer his ship through the sea, with one destination in mind...Pridwen.


	6. Episode 6: Welcome to Pridwen

**Chapter 6: Welcome to Pridwen**

Our heroes - and others - were traveling to Keystone Island on Behrab's pirate ship, ready to pass through the canal and arrive at Pridwen, the very capital of Keystone Island. It was there that our heroes - and others - would reside, and make preparations for another perilous adventure.

"All this talk about going on an adventure, it almost reminds me of the good ol' days, when I went on daring adventures with my trusty pirate crew, looking for treasure across the seas," smiled Behrab, steering the pirate ship, as he reminisced over his youth. "I was a wee little rascal - my big head of mine would always lead me to unexpected places. But it wasn't until Mr. Rossano Jacques found me, washed up at sea after that shipwreck, that my head was screwed on right."

"Nobody gives a crap about your lust for adventures, or your stupid pirate crew," said Cortex while standing next to a seasick Archie, who was throwing up into the ocean. "Just take us to Pridwen before some enemy pirate ship attacks us or something." Behrab would throw a boot at Cortex, striking him in the head, before continuing his story.

"Of course, I could've searched for some pirate booty while I was enrolled at the Academy...but it was that blasted amulet around my neck that kept giving me evil impulses, enticing me to be a villain. That amulet was why I used to antagonize against you all. I believe it was Azalea who gave me that amulet..."

"If I were you, I would've ignore the effects of the amulet, and go full searching for that pirate booty!" gleamed Von Clutch, before Pasadena whispered something into the cyborg's ear that made his smile fade away. "...oh, so it's not that kind of booty, ya? Guess I'll never think the same way about pirates again..."

"So it was Azalea who gave you the amulet...it all makes sense now," affirmed Coco, analyzing what Behrab just said. "She essentially turned you evil so you could help her in her motives regarding the Dark Confederation."

"Precisely. Azalea, she pretty much handed out those amulets to all her classmates, and we've all turned into villains as a result. But thanks to your brother, Crash, and you guys, we've been restored back to normal."

The ship would soon enter a wide waterway, sailing behind two giant ships. Our heroes - and others - looked up, and saw a sign that read "Welcome to Pridwen".

"Well folks, we're finally here...we're passing through the Pridwen Canal," announced Behrab, steering his boat through the waterway. "Getting real close to Pridwen! Can you just taste the air, isn't it so delectable?"

"I'm just sayin', but if you can taste the air, then you got some seriously problems bud..." replied Pinstripe, only to receive a boot to the head from Behrab.

"Drat, now I've lost both of my boots...don't know why I would wear boots, since I'm a otter, but I always have to adhere to the pirate dress code. It's very strict business."

Behrab would soon reach the pier of Pridwen, as our heroes - and others - marveled at Pridwen's skyline. So many illustrious buildings in sight. Behrab would pull his pirate ship up to the pier, and "parked" his ship, before he and his crew hopped off. Behrab would guide the large group through the pier and into the city, which was bustling with people at every corner.

"Friends, welcome to the wonderful city of Pridwen - the very capital of Keystone Island," said Behrab, as our heroes - and others - continued to marvel at the city. "No littering in this city, please - the city government takes litering _very_ seriously. Take it from me..."

"This city looks just like Excalibur, but only fancier!" exclaimed Kong, just dying to see all the main attractions in town. "Great place to go on a vacation!"

"Unfortunately that vacation will have to wait - I'm sure you're all here for very important matters. Mattes such as the Dark Confederation. That's an evil group that shouldn't be taken lightly. As much as I would give you guys a tour around city, we must take care of the important stuff first."

"Exactly, which is why we must hurry to my mansion right away," stated Grantor, pulling out a map of the city. "Since I've haven't been in Pridwen for a considerable amount of time, I don't know where everything is...but I do know the address of my mansion!"

"Well that's good and all, but do you know _how_ to get to your mansion?" questioned Crash, leaving Grantor stumped.

"That I do not know...but when there's a will, there's a way, and we'll just have to commit to that way."

"Actually it's where's there's a will, there's a...you know what, just take us to your mansion."

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Using the street signs and street numbers as guiding points, Grantor would lead the entire group through Pridwen, in search for his mansion. The way the elderly badger was leading everybody, it made him look like a tour guide. Or so it would, if not for the robe he was wearing.

"Grantor are you sure we aren't walking in circles?" Pasadena asked the badger, feeling like everyone was aimlessly going in the same direction.

"Patience, my dear Pasadena, you can't reach your goals or destinations if you don't have patience," doted Grantor. "The more you complain, and the more you ask needless questions, the less likely you are to accomplish things."

"Oh really, huh?" Pasadena saw a random pedestrian nearby, and came over to speak with him. "Excuse me, kind sir, but where exactly is 124 Peabody Street?" (124 Peabody Street was the address of Grantor's mansion.)

"You're talking about the giant mansion, is that correct?" the pedestrian asked Pasadena, who nodded her head. "It's just down the street, just keeping on going straight and you'll arrive at your destination in a few." The pedestrian would point down the street, as Pasadena turned towards Grantor and gave him an inquisitive look.

"I was just trying to see if you were paying attention!" Grantor would yell out in response.

Grantor would lead the large group down the street, finally arriving at his mansion. This mansion was much larger in comparison to the mansion over at Gemstone Island - looked like it had more rooms and stuff. Not to mention that the design of the mansion was more grander compared to the other one.

"Stupid miscreant kids spraying graffiti all over my mansion..." frowned Grantor as he and the others walked up to the front door, analyzing the graffiti all over his beloved mansion. "...they just couldn't help themselves, could they? No matter, I'll have it all cleaned off soon. Now I must find my key..." Once he reached the front door, Grantor reached into his pocket for the key to the front door, but couldn't find it anywhere.

"You literally had me take everyone to Pridwen, so we could go to your mansion, and yet you don't even have the key to open up said mansion," Brio said disgustingly to Grantor, while the badger kept looking for his key. "We might as well live in the hotels of this city until we can..."

"Aha, finally found you, you little rascal!" exclaimed Grantor, proudly holding up his key. "Key was buried deep in my fur, and yet somehow I was unable to feel it. That must be a clear sign that I might need to shave my fur off. My fault for letting it grow so much during the last hibernating period. Not that I really need to hibernate anyways, since I'm a badger. But enough jib jab, let's head on inside!"

So Grantor stuck the key into the doorknob, unlocked the front door, and opened the door, as a flurry of rats came rushing out of the mansion. Grantor and company had to move out of the way as the rats came running down Grantor's walkway and into the city streets.

"For the record, I allowed a family of rats to stay in my mansion until I returned to the city," Grantor had to explain to the others. "Either I let them reside in my mansion, or they cook me inside a pot of melted cheese and eat me alive. Literally had no choice in the matter, aside from death..."

"I'm surprised those rats haven't touched any of your stuff," remarked Crunch, as he took a peek inside the mansion and saw the living room and dining area. "This place looks good as new - _too_ good as new!" The burly bandicoot would enter the mansion after Grantor, and everyone else would follow suit.

"And it smells new as well!" added N. Trance, as Behrab closed the front door being the last person to enter the mansion. "Those rats must've kept this place in tip-top shape these past few years!"

"How are you able to smell, you're but a talking egg!" Valestrom said to N. Trance, who was visibly offended.

"Well if I wasn't able to smell, then I wouldn't be able to breath, which means I wouldn't be able to live...so checkmate, Valestrom!"

"Please you two, we don't need any fighting," advised Coco, easing tensions between N. Trance and Valestrom. "We should just unwind, and get some rest in before we embark on...what are we supposed to do now, are we supposed to collect stuff like we did last time?" Coco, unsure what the o bjective was, asked Grantor.

"Mindy, would you like to do the honors?" Grantor would ask the ginger, who nodded as she pulled out a scroll from her...from her imaginary pocket. Must be a prophecy scroll...

"This here is a scroll of a prophecy, Keystone Island's own prophecy... **The Fallen Prognosticus** ," stated Mindy. -dramatic music- "It's in similar vein to Gemstone Island's prophecy - three chosen ones, eight Mavericks, eight masks, and Crash as the new chosen one."

"Why does Crash get all these special privileges?" frowned Komodo Joe, feeling somewhat salty. "Almost every prophecy has him as the chosen one, it seems like. Why not put some respect on MY name?

"Screw you, brother...the prophecies should put some respect on MY name!" amended Komodo Moe, brushing his brother to the aside. Moe and Joe would bicker over which brother was more deserving of being the chosen one, and it was preventing Mindy for any further explanation.

"ENOUGH!" the girl shouted, making the Komodo Bros stop arguing. "Crash is the chosen one because of unforeseen consequences that forced him into that role. Of course, Crash would not be the chosen one, if not for how things played out..."

"Unforeseen consequences such as Crash being a failure of the Evolvo Ray?" questioned Kong, before going to Cortex and getting down on his knees, in a begging manner. "Dr. Cortex, could you please go back in time and make me a failure, and not Crash? Pretty please, with cherries on top?"

"I can't even defeat Crash, let alone open a can of peanut butter, so what possibly makes you think I'd be competent enough to build a time machine?" retorted Cortex, realizing what he just said. "...just get out of my face!"

"Thank you, Dr. Cortex, never thought I would ever have to thank you for anything," Mindy thanked the N head, as a whimpering Kong rose back up to his feet and returned to his original spot, pouting like a little child. "So like the Dark Fate, there are eight masks, with a Maverick trapped inside each and every one of them. It is nigh imperative that we collect these masks so we can stop the prophecy from taking place."

"I fear that it won't be easy - I heard that there's an evil academy somewhere on this island," stated Behrab. "An academy just like the one over at Gemstone Island, with the students possibly feigning to get their grubby little fingers on the masks in question. Heard that the headmaster of the academy is a loon!"

"Do you know if this headmaster has any relations with anyone from the Dark Confederation?" Crash would ask Behrab out of curiosity. "Does he know the leader of the Confederation, at least?"

"Not sure, but Trent told me that he saw some students from the academy pass by in the city, and they were reading amulets around their necks - kinda like what we used to do. Those amulets are definitely a tell-tale sign of..."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and the knock sounded like it came from a police officer, or maybe some ice cream truck guy whose vehicle broke down in the middle of the road. Who knows. Regardless, the knock sounded important, and so Crash went to go answer the front door...

...only to be greeted by a guy in a government suit, with shades on. Clearly a government agent, as indicated by the badge he showed to Crash.

"Arthur Mann, highest-ranking agent in the Keystone Island government," the government agent would introduce himself to Crash, who kinda knew what was bound to transpire next. "I just saw you and your folks pass through this city. Mind if I take you to our government building? I believe our prime minister would love to have a word with you..."

 **End of Chapter 6**

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...but wait, there's more!

Spying on Grantor's mansion from afar were two individuals, standing on top of a tall building. They were both wearing long robes, with hoods over their heads, and they were also wearing masks to conceal their identity. One individual wore a mask with a Z on it, while the other individual's mask sported a θ.

"Well, well...looks like the chosen one has finally arrived at this island," said the individual with the Z mask. "It was only a matter of time until he showed up..."

"So when do we get to pounce on the bandicoot, when do we get to kill him?" the individual with the θ mask asked their partner-in-crime.

"It would be best if we...wait it out. Follow the bandicoot to whatever his next destination is, and strike when the most opportune moment arrives. Then, and only then, will he receive the bitter taste of the Dark Confederation..."

"Sounds like a great plan, provided we successfully kill off the bandicoot. I'm licking my chops already just thinking about it!"


	7. Chapter 7: Necessary Preparations

Before we begin, just wanted to apologize for the very long update. It's been over a month since the last chapter! Kinda got sidetracked since then, but now I'm back and with another spanking new chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Necessary Preparations**

In the previous chapter, we saw our heroes travel to Pridwen, the capital of Keystone Island. There they would move in to Grantor's mansion, which would serve as the hub place for their newest adventure.

Now, our heroes were in serious business. Crash, the chosen one, would receive a visit from a government agent, who told the bandicoot that the prime minister of Keystone Island wished to speak with him. And so Crash, along with his allies, would find themselves in the Keystone Island Government Building...wow, what a creative name. Keystone Island Government Building. So original, it deserves to be trademarked! Sounds almost like...ah, never mind.

"Say, where the heck is Valestrom, I reckon he'd want to see the prime minister!" wondered Fake Crash, as Arthur led everyone through the government building.

"Valestrom opted to stay at the mansion, given how he was treated today," replied Pasadena. "Personally I wouldn't blame him - might save him a concussion or two."

"We all had a great feeling that you would eventually show up, Mr. Bandicoot," Arthur Mann, the government agent who greeted Crash in the previous chapter, would tell the bandicoot. "And by all, I mean pretty much everyone in the administration."

"Quick question: who is your president?" Fake Crash raised his hand, hoping Arthur would recognize him. "Also, who is in Congress? How many people are in Congress? Do you have a House of Representatives?"

"How many times do I gotta tell you...we DON'T have a president. Or any governing body. But we do have a prime minister, so that's good enough for us."

"Do you have a wonderful supply of missiles?" N. Gin asked, also raising his hand so he could be recognized. "Every great country needs a bunch of missiles in their arsenal, hehehe!"

"Keystone Island isn't a country, it's just a large island with many diverse people. Just like Gemstone Island. Just because we have a government in place don't mean nothing."

"Then why do you have a flag?" asked Yaya; Arthur was unable to answer this question outright.

"We just needed something to represent our country, okay?! Please stop asking these dumb questions...man, if only they had trained me for stuff like this..."

Arthur would finally take the group to the intended destination - the very office where the prime minister lied. Crash and company were standing in front of a graciously designed door, which looked like it belonged in the British castle.

"Behind these doors is the prime minister of our island, Mr. Eligh Holt, who has been expecting your arrival," Arthur said to our heroes, but most importantly Crash, the chosen one and all. "He has been waiting for your arrival ever since..."

"Quick question: has this Eligh Holt dude been waiting for my arrival since forever?" asked Crash, to which Arthur nodded his head in confirmation. "Does this guy even have a life?!"

"That's Mr. Eligh Holt to you...and I'm not required to answer that second question. Answer might come off as a bit insensitive. It's better if you don't ask. But enough talking - let's just introduce you and your friends to the prime minister." Arthur knocked on the door. "Mr. Holt, the chosen one and his friends are here!"

"Good, let them in!" commanded the person in the room, obviously Mr. Holt. Unless someone possessed Mr. Holt's and took over his body, but it's way too early for stuff like that to happen.

Arthur would open the door, allowing our heroes to step inside, and there seated at his desk was the prime minister of Keystone Island - Mr. Eligh Holt himself. He was a particularly young fellow - not that young, but definitely younger than Henry Knox, of Gemstone Island. The bespectacled prime minister looked up at Crash and company, smiling with delight.

"Ahahaha, Crash Bandicoot, you finally made it!" the prime minister gleamed, as he got up from his chair and ran over to hug the bandicoot. He would squeeze Crash pretty tight, making him gasp for air. "The prophecies were true, the prophecies were true! What a happy day this is..."

"Obviously Crash didn't come here by himself," Grantor spoke up, as Holt looked up at the elderly badger. The moment he saw Grantor, Holt gasped in delight, dropping Crash to the floor like he was a sack of garbage. "Nice seeing you again, Mr. Holt."

"Grantor, you've returned to Keystone Island...this is INCREDIBLE!" Now Holt was fangirling all over the place, as he was doing these funky ballerina moves and twirls and all that stuff. It led the others to wonder how this man was even elected prime minister. Whoever he ran up against must've sucked big time. "To believe that you've brought the chosen one, Crash Bandicoot, and his friends...I never even knew the chosen one had friends to begin with! I must document this!"

"This guy must've smoked something before we came here," Coco said to the others, before being caught off-guard by Holt sliding towards her on his knees, like he was performing on a musical stage. "I'm starting to dislike him already..."

"Don't mind if I ask you this question...but are you the chosen one's GIRLFRIEND?" As you would believe, this question was obviously offensive to Coco, who felt the sudden need to slap Holt in the face and make him act somewhat normal. "The thought of Crash having friends was remarkable enough, but for him to have a love interest...is an entirely different beast!"

"Ew, no, I'm not his girlfriend...I'm his sister!" Holt's face apparently sank when Coco announced this. "I'm Coco, and that bandicoot with the muscles is Crunch. We're both Crash's siblings!"

"Ah, I see...how wonderful! I'm sure your parents raised you well." If only Holt knew the truth... "What about that funny-looking bandicoot, with the bushy eyebrows and buck teeth? Is he your cousin?"

"That's Fake Crash - he's just a bandicoot who legitimately has nothing better to do in his life, so he just kinda follows us around. Sometimes we like to pretend that he isn't even there." Fake Crash looked down at the floor in sadness, turning away.

"I see, I see..." Holt stood back up on his feet, nodding his head, before looking at Cortex. "And who is the ugly short man with the N on his head? Is the man behind him his father?"

"That would be Dr. Neo Cortex, and the man behind him is indeed his father, Archie Cortex," explained Coco, as Cortex felt the sudden urge to blast Holt away with his ray gun. "Cortex was the one who created Crash in the first place."

"So you must be the father of Crash Bandicoot! Pleasure to meet you!" Holt went over to shake Cortex's hand, but Cortex would slap Holt's hand away. "Slapped away my hand, didn't you? Ah, that's okay - my kids do the same thing with me. And my wife too. I think they're trying to send me a message, but I haven't quite received it yet."

"Maybe it's because you're annoying and dumb..." murmured Komodo Moe, as Joe looked at his brother and nudged him. "Wait, I'm not allowed to criticize the prime minister? Is that what it's all about?!"

"There are government officials watching and listening to your every word..." whispered Joe, as Moe looked around and saw the government agents circled around, all wearing sunglasses to go with their straight faces. Moe, seeing these agents, could only laugh with nervousness.

"We cannot have these wonderful conversations in my office I'm afraid...we must take our joyful banter to the banquet hall!" exclaimed Holt, annoying our heroes with his over-exuberant positivity. "Someone prepare the tables and the food, that's an order!"

* * *

Following the exchange with Holt, our heroes...and the others...met with the prime minister in the banquet hall, for a hearty afternoon brunch. It was in the banquet hall where the introductions and the conversations (and Holt's constant fawning of Crash) continued among Holt and the others. Holt couldn't help but marvel every time Crash did a single thing, like cough, sneeze, scratching his crotch area underneath the table, etc.

"So...Mr. Holt, you said you had a wife, is that correct?" Crash asked the prime minister, who was sipping his cup of wine when he was asked. Crash had to make sure Holt's wife was real, and not a figment of the man's imagination.

"Why of course I do, Crash my boy - no male politician can go without a smoking hot babe in his corner!" replied Holt with great enthusiasm, as Nina and several others felt the sudden urge to puke. "The moment I was elected into office, my wife wished me good luck, and took our kids to some faraway location away from Pridwen. From that point onward, I never saw my family again...except on holidays. The pure joy and exuberance they show behind their somewhat displeased faces always put a big smile on my face!"

"I wonder why..." murmured Tropy, sticking his fork into his filet mignon Cortex tried to do the same to his mignon, only for the steak to hiss at the mad scientist and chase him out of the banquet hall. Archie watched it unfold, not even bothering to save his son.

"I really adore what you've done to the place, Mr. Holt - the paintings on the ceiling and the stained-glass windows really give this banquet hall a classic feel," Archie said to the prime minister, not at all caring that his son was being terrorized by his own food. "Was this your doing, or was it always like that before you became the prime minister of the island?"

"More or less, the latter - the many architects in Keystone Island have a _very_ strong attention to detail, and focuses mightily on color and structure," explained Holt, cleaning his mouth with his napkin. "It really gives our island a distinct feel compared to the neighboring Gemstone Island."

"Mr. Holt, may I ask a question?" asked Dingodile, raising his hand so he could be noticed. "It has something to do with the island's...education system. Not the entire system, rather, but one school in particular. At Gemstone Island, there was this academy of gifted students, all of whom mastered a particular element and whatnot, and I was wondering if you have a similar academy on this..."

"Ah, yes, you must be referring to the Academy of the Elementally Gifted, aren't you?" Dingodile, darting his eyes around in confusion, nodded his head. "We have such an academy here in Keystone Island, much like how Gemstone Island used to have theirs. That is, until the events of the Dark Pit occurred and resulted in the destruction of the academy. And the former students have moved on..."

"...and we haven't looked back ever since!" remarked Behrab, before chugging down his drink in one giant gulp. "Some more wine over here, missy!"

"Behrab, aren't you under the island's legal drinking age?" Pasadena asked the otter out of curiosity. A waiter came over to Behrab, and fixed him another glass of wine.

"Technically thanks to that amulet Azalea gave me, I am thirty years older than what I appear now...that amulet really slowed down my aging process."

Upon hearing this, Crunch started gagging on his food, as the burly bandicoot clutched his neck and choked. Coco, the lifesaver, applied the Heimlich maneuver to her big brother.

"You said that Azalea was the one who gave you those amulets?" asked Crash, making sure he was hearing this right. Thanks to Coco, Crunch was able to get that piece of mignon stuck in his throat out of his system.

"Aye...she went around the entire academy, giving them out to us like they were lollipops. We didn't know at the time how powerful those amulets were, and we accepted them and wore them around our necks...that's how we became evil over time, those amulets..."

"Mr. Holt, someone left their radar thingamajig in your office, and it's going off for no reason," Arthur alerted the prime minister, as he ran inside the banquet hall with the radar in question going off. "Any idea who it belongs to?"

"That would be mine, good sir - pass it over here!" Grantor called out, as Arthur tossed the radar device to the elderly badger. Grantor held the radar in his hand, giggling to himself as the radar sounded. "Four years...for four years I've wanted to hear that sweet sound again..."

"As you can see, Grantor here has absolutely nothing to live for, since being a mentor is his only ambition in life," Mindy explained to the others, while Grantor continued giggling like a little child. "As someone who lived with Grantor the past few years, I should know..."

"What does that signal sound from the radar mean, Grantor, please tell us immediately!" Mr. Holt said to Grantor; seeing the prime minister was speaking to him, Grantor stopped giggling and present a more formal visage.

"The radar is signaling that a mask has been discovered - a mask pertaining to **The Fallen Prognosticus**." -dramatic music- "I'm afraid the prophecy has finally been awakened..."

"Great news, everyone - I finally got over my fears, and faced that filet mignon head on!" announced a confident Cortex, returning to the banquet hall soaking up all his pride. "It has been vanquished inside my mouth, and is relishing in the joy of defeat in my...why is everyone so quiet for? Did someone die? And you didn't even bother to come and tell me?! I'm seriously hurt!"

"Uncle Cortex are you deaf, do you not hear the radar sound?" Nina asked her uncle, who made an "Oh..." face. "Clearly a mask has been located...which means we're going back to searching for masks again."

"So Grantor, where is this mask found, and what is it called?" inquired Yaya, as Grantor expanded the map on his radar, so he could get a good view of the entire map of Keystone Island.

"This mask - the Mask of Willpower - is located at a place called the Luong Estuary. I've done some research on this estuary before - there's a native tribe that dwell at that estuary for hundreds of years, so they might know a thing or two about where the mask is. I'd highly recommend speaking with their chief, he might show you the way to the mask."

"I can already tell that this is the start of a wonderful adventure!" gleamed Holt, clapping his hands together in delight as our heroes judged him. "Since I already knew that you all would show up to this island, as the prophecy dictated, I did some lowkey recruiting to help your odds against the forces of evil. Behrab knows what I'm talking about, right?"

"Aye, prime minister...I was the one who followed your orders, did I?" the otter responded, as everyone was confused as to what was going on.

"Wait, what, what is the meaning of this?" questioned Cortex, demanding answers. "Is this some kind of cruel inside joke?! I'm always left out of inside jokes...if only there was an outside joke for me to be a part of!"

"Oh ho ho, there's no inside joke...or outside joke for that matter," chuckled Holt, before getting out of his chair. "Come, follow Behrab and I...we have some familiar faces to show to you all."

* * *

Doing as they were told, our heroes and everyone else followed Holt and Behrab around the government building, to a room where they all expected a huge surprise behind the elegant door.

"Can you please hurry up, I really gotta go..." pleaded Fake Crash, holding in his urine as he danced around in place.

"Would you like to do the honors, Captain Behrab?" Holt, standing at the door, asked the otter, who obliged with a smile.

"With pleasure, prime minister," replied Behrab, putting his hand on the doorknob and opening the door emphatically, in an almost dramatic manner, as he allowed the group inside the room. And everyone was surprised to see who was standing inside.

It was two girls - a dark-skinned woman, and a female fox. The former was wearing what appeared to be something business casual, with a jacket and a long skirt, and the latter was wearing traditional Indian garb, purple in color. Our heroes instantly recognized who these two were.

"Crash and friends, allow me to reintroduce to you all, Zola Meadowood and Grutika Johal," Behrab introduced the two ladies to our heroes. Both Zola and Grutika - who were pupils of Chantex during the events of the Dark Fate - looked a few years older, if their physical appearance was any indication to go by. "I'm sure you remember your times spent together with..."

"I HAVE TO GO TO THE RESTROOM!" shouted Fake Crash as he ran out of the room and to the nearest restroom. Let's hope he makes it there on time...

"Crash Bandicoot, Dr. Neo Cortex, and everyone else...it's great to see you again," greeted Zola, who like Grutika was no longer villainous. "Don't think Grutika and I can thank you enough for saving us from the evil snare that took us whole...even if it came at the price of our headmaster making his sacrifice, for the sake of humankind."

"Yeah, what she said...and ever since we became good again, I went to a university and graduated at the top of my class, with high honors!" added Grutika, showing her graduation certificate for everyone to see. "Majored in astronomy, maintained a 4.0 GPA and was on the Dean's List for my entire college career..."

"We get it Grutika, no need to brag..." Zola said to her friend, making the fox put away her certificate. "As I was saying, we are grateful to see you again, and we are even more grateful to sacrifice our time to work with you, side by side."

"Working with us, side by side?" Von Clutch raised an eyebrow, before turning his attention to Holt. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Oh it sure does, Von Clutch my friend," replied Holt, with a gleeful smile. "I asked all of Chantex's former pupils...well, those who were still around...and asked them if they wanted to help out you all in the event the prophecy came to fruition. As I expected, they all agreed to volunteer! I had Behrab lure try and lure you all to the island, and Zola and Grutika here were the first ones to show up for volunteering. So everything worked out perfectly!"

"That was...very thoughtful of you, Mr. Holt," responded Crash, scratching the back of his head. "The thought that counts, I guess. So when should we get started?"

"Evil never waits - trust me, I know - so it's imperative that we get going right away," stated Brio. "Before you leave, how about we make some necessary preparations?"

* * *

Our heroes stood outside the government building with Mr. Holt, Grantor, Brio, Chick, and Stew, as Zola and Grutika were now on their side. The minions were inside the government building, and hopefully they aren't turning the place into a pigsty.

"These are the Warpinators you've used in your previous adventure," Brio handed Crash and Cortex the Warpinators - devices used to warp a minion of any choosing to whatever location the heroes were. "I've had N. Gin write names of the buttons, so you won't be confused. Also, I want to give you these..." Brio would hand Crash and Cortex something else...earpieces, one for each.

"This makes me feel like I'm a part of some secret agent mission..." marveled Cortex, as he and Crash accepted the earpieces from Brio. "...finally, my wildest (and only positive) dreams are coming true!"

"Chick and Stew wanted me to give you those...they're earpieces, which Chick and Stew will use to pass on vital information." Crash and Cortex placed the earpieces inside their ear, as they turned on. "Apparently they have a lot of what they call 'prior knowledge', so that should help you out in the long run."

"We'll be more trustworthy than your average internet provider!" assured Stew, giving our heroes a thumbs up.

"Whatever you do, DO NOT get those earpieces wet, they're very sensitive," warned Chick. "One droplet of water could make those things EXPLODE!"

"Oh, so you gave Crash and Cortex exploding earpieces...makes a ton of sense," remarked Zola, making Chick very angry.

"It's to teach them both a lesson, a crucial lesson! Some people just don't get it, do they..."

"Mr. Holt, Mr. Holt, the minions just knocked down a statue and it crumbled to pieces!" N. Gin alerted the prime minister, running out of the government building. "And now they're using the remains as part of some...some war; they're throwing the remains at each other like it's a snowball fight! Unfortunately my team is losing at the moment...but Moe, Pinstripe, Kong, Roo and I shall prevail, for the others are greatly outnumbered!"

"Well then, I must get going..." smiled Mr. Holt, fastening his tie. "I'm putting a lot of faith in you, Crash - in fact, the entire island is putting a lot of faith in you. Don't let everyone down!"

After saying this, the prime minister returned to the government building, with Brio, Chick, and Stew following after him. Last person remaining was Grantor, who had his mask radar.

"According to my radar, the portal to Luong Estuary is just down the street," the elderly badger told our heroes. "Just head down south, and you'll arrive at your destination. I'll be at my mansion, and hopefully the minions will be there once they're done vandalizing the government building. Call us if you need anything!" And with that, Grantor ran inside the government building, to see if Mr. Holt needed any assistance.

"Okay people, we have Zola and Grutika with us, so now we must determine who will be working with who," stated Cortex, mulling over Zola and Grutika. "And I shall pick...the fox girl, Grutika!" As you would imagine, Grutika was initially disgusted.

"Ew, why me?" the Indian fox frowned at Cortex. "I wouldn't want to work with you, even if the fate of the world was at hand! You didn't even know that I was a girl!"

"How do you know that was me? For all we know, that could've been a stunt double of mine! We were in Alexaj Shores at the time, and we all know the beaches are full of hot babes, so maybe I was out doing some sight-seeing."

Silence. Silence was the only thing take took place after Cortex's statement, as everyone had a blank look on their face.

"...I shall team up with Cortex and friends," volunteered Zola, aligning herself with Team Cortex. As she did so, Grutika gave her an apologetic look, before mouthing "I'm sorry..." to her friend.

"Looks like you'll be joining us, Grutika!" exclaimed Aku, as Grutika joined Team Crash. Seemed like a perfect fit for her. "Excellent, both our teams are even - six members for each faction. Now let's get going!"

* * *

We now take you to an unnamed building, inside a spacious room with light coming in through the windows. At the center of this room was a giant figure, with threatening red eyes that could be easily discerned. Moments later, sixteen silhouettes would surround this menacing figure, in colors of red, yellow, blue, light blue, dark blue, green, orange, turquoise, pink, fuchsia, lavender, brown, tan, black, gray, and white - all of them appearing one-by-one.

"I believe you called us here, headmaster?" the white silhouette spoke up, in a sincere voice.

"Yes, I'm afraid the events of the prophecy are about to be unlocked..." the figure replied, seething just a little bit. "...for the bandicoot...the chosen one...has arrived. I can feel his very presence..."

"Gasp, whatever shall we do to stop him?" questioned the brown silhouette, in an almost sarcastic manner. "I know what we can do - leave it up to Kushaiah to lay a beating on the bandicoot he won't ever forget!"

"At ease, Kushaiah, at ease..." If you read the prequel story, the name Kushaiah may or may not be familiar to you. "We must eradicate the bandicoot at once, to prevent him from fulfilling **The Dark Prognosticus**..." -dramatic music- "...he'll be a thorn in our sides if we don't stop him in time!"

"Where is the bandicoot right now, is he searching for a mask right now?" asked the red silhouette, out of curiosity. "

"Yes he is, and he is searching for the Mask of Willpower, which is in the Luong Estuary. He would have to find all the masks in a specific order, so he won't disrupt the order of the prophecy. I've sent Draven and Lorelai to the estuary to find the mask, after I felt the bandicoot's presence, so I expect to hear a very good report when they return...

* * *

Our heroes traveled through the portal - which was apparently inside a giant toilet at some coin laundry - and arrived at the Luong Estuary. Given that it was an estuary, you'd think that the heroes would be at some river, near the stream, but that wasn't the case...

"Um, guys, don't look down..." warned Grutika, as our heroes were standing on grass, or some kind of vegetation. Fake Crash would look down, and saw that he was way up above the estuary, seeing the water and the land below him. The bandicoot screamed in fright before fainting in a heartbeat.

"Look what you did fool - since you said 'don't look down', you made Fake Crash do the exact opposite!" Crunch scolded Grutika, as he lifted Fake Crash over his shoulders. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"Well excuse me for not knowing how you guys operate..."

"How about we get a move on before we start arguing among ourselves, shall we?" Crash told the others, stepping out in front of everyone else as he saw a bunch of trees and houses up ahead. "Grantor said there was a tribe living here, so they must be in that forestation up ahead. We'll just strut our way to the chief, ask him about the mask, and he'll lead us to the right direction..."

"Sure hope this tribe has a shaman or a witchdoctor..." said Cortex, holding up the still lifeless Uka and looking at him in the face. "I must bring Uka back to life! It's just the same when he isn't making fun of me and questioning my existence every other minute! So this tribe better have someone to revitalize Uka, and they better have churros as well!"

And so, our heroes stepped forward, as they approached what appeared to be a village, embarking on their search for the Mask of Willpower.

 **End of Chapter 7**

* * *

But before we close things out...

Spying on our heroes from atop a tree were two members of the Dark Confederation, wearing their robes and their masks. They were the same members from the previous chapter.

"Ahaha, we did it...we followed the bandicoot and his friends to this very destination," said the individual with the Z mask. "The way to get this estuary wasn't exactly ideal, but at least we're on the bandicoot's tail!"

"That bandicoot almost looks ripe for the taking," added the individual with the θ mask, as their bare right hand started glowing. "Can't wait to get my hands on him..."


	8. Chapter 8: Tribal Seasoning

**Chapter 8: Tribal Seasoning**

Our heroes, now joined by Zola and Grutika, found themselves traversing through the forestation part of the Luong Estuary, which strongly resembled the Lost Woods of _Legend of Zelda_ fame. No, wait, what am I talking about, this is _Crash Bandicoot_ , not _Legend of Zelda,_ there is a huge difference between those two...you know what, please disregard what you just saw.

"Is there something wrong with the narrator today?" asked Tropy.

"You know the narrator has a few screws loose," replied Yaya. "Stop acting so surprised by his behavior."

"I cannot believe that you guys have the audacity to break the fourth wall like that," said Zola, not realizing that she was too breaking the fourth wall just by mentioning it. "How do you even do it?"

"Eh, it comes with the territory, I suppose," Von Clutch shrugged his shoulders. "Something we've grown to get used to over time."

Our heroes ventured deeper into the forestation of the Loung Estuary, eventually coming across what appeared to be a village of sorts. Amphibians of different kinds - frogs, toads, salamanders, and the like - were walking through this village, living in canopy trees that served as homes. More importantly, these amphibians were dressed like a Native American tribe, what with their headdresses and warrior shirts and such.

"Crunch never said this before, but...he has a strong phobia of frogs and toads," Crunch whispered, passing this information on to the others.

"And you didn't tell us about this phobia of yours until now?" Coco whispered back.

"Well it's not Crunch's fault you don't wanna have meaningful conversations with him! That's on all of y'all!"

"FREEZE, IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!"

Crunch and company immediately came to a sudden halt, when a bunch of frog tribesmen approached them, with their spears. Their stares were intense enough to make even the manliest man in Keystone Island wet their pants.

"Hands up where we can see them!" ordered the lead frog tribesman, having a spear much bigger than his peers.

"Who are you supposed to be, the Luong Police Force?" questioned Cortex, stepping out in front of the others with his arms up. "There you go, you can see my hands up in the air, clear as day...now will you let us go? We have stuff to do..."

"He's resisting our order, spear him!" commanded the leader tribesman, as a frog tribesman hurled his spear at Cortex, nailing him in the leg. Cortex yelped in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his knee.

"Once again, all the bad things happen to me...those frogs would target my surgically restructured knee, wouldn't they?"

"Lower your spears!" the leader tribesman shouted, as his fellow tribesmen did as they were told. The frog suddenly took a good look at Crash, looking at the bandicoot like he was a lost child, finally returning home to his proud father. Crash looked around, noticing how the tone of the situation changed.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Crash wondered, seeing that all the tribesmen were staring at him. The leader tribesman slowly walked up to Crash, looking like he was in utter disbelief. "I know I'm a pretty popular guy, but..."

"Crash Bandicoot...your name is Crash Bandicoot, is that correct?"

"Yup, it is I, the chosen one, Crash Bandicoot...I understand that I may be known to some in this island, but I don't really appreciate..."

Before Crash could finish, the leader tribesman knelt down at Crash's feet, and his tribesmen would kneel down as well. Clearly they all held Crash in high reverence.

"Crash Bandicoot, we would like to formally welcome you and your friends to the Luong Estuary," the leader tribesman said, before looking up at Crash. "I am Webbed Foot, leader of the 1st Regent Squad. On behalf of myself, and everyone in our village, we are forever in your gratitude."

"This whole fascination with Crash...we're gonna have to get used to it, right?" Grutika whispered to Nina, who begrudgingly nodded her head.

"Thankfully not that many regions recognize Crash as the chosen one," Nina whispered back. "But if we go to places where the denizens praise Crash's name like he's some kind of deity, then I might have to cash in a rain check and return home, if you know what I mean."

"Great, now the frog guy's kissing Crash's hands..." Indeed he was, as Webbed Foot kissed Crash's hands, much to the bandicoot's general annoyance. "...this has gotten weird already."

"So, uh, my friends and I, we came here looking for a mask," Crash explained his mission to Webbed Foot, as he continued to kiss the bandicoot's hands. "It's called the Mask of Willpower. Someone told us that we should speak with your chief, since they know where the mask is."

"Ah, yes, our chief! Chief Waterloo! I can rest assure you that she's been waiting very patiently for your arrival, chosen one. She is sitting in her high chair right now - come and follow us, we'll take you to see Chief Waterloo right away."

"Better hope they shower us with gifts and other privileges," Fake Crash murmured to Von Clutch, who nodded his head excitedly as Webbed Foot and his tribesmen led our heroes through the village, with one tribesman carrying Cortex in his arms.

* * *

Webbed Foot would take our heroes to the chief house, which was the largest house in the entire village. There rested a toad, with long slender legs, seated in the high chair, wearing a fancy headdress and some fancy Native American dress. The chief was a female, and she was pretty young for a chief of an entire tribe of amphibian people.

"She's pretty," Von Clutch whispered to one of the frog tribesman, who wish he could nod his head in agreement.

"I would agree with you, but my duties as a frog tribesman forbids me from complimenting Chief Waterloo's beautiful looks," replied the frog tribesman, before realizing what he just said. "...and now I've violated the rule. Hopefully I won't be cast into the river..."

"Chief Waterloo, the chosen one and friends...have arrived," Webbed Foot announced to the toad seated in the high chair, as he and his frog tribesmen all knelt down before him. Using his spear, he poked Crash, expecting the bandicoot to do the same.

"Aw, do I really have to?" moaned Crash, as Webbed Foot gave him a stern look. The bandicoot sighed as he knelt down before Chief Waterloo, and the other heroes quickly followed suit. Except for Cortex, who was now seated in a makeshift wheelchair made out of some bamboo material.

"Crash Bandicoot...what a pleasure to see you in the Luong Estuary," smiled Chief Waterloo, delighted to see the bandicoot in person. "I've heard all sorts of great things about you, long before you even arrived!"

"It's nice to meet you too lady...can we please stand back up now? Not that I'm speaking for everyone, but my knees are hurting from..."

"You're more than free to stand back up, if you wish." Crash let out a sigh of relief as he stood back up, and the heroes did the same. "Also, you don't have to address me as 'lady'...I am but a mere child. Thrust into the throne, after my parents went missing...it was a good thing they groomed me for this position."

"Missing parents, you say?" grinned Cortex. "Are you sure they didn't CROAK?" Everyone stared at Cortex, disgusted with his tasteless joke. "...I'm so sorry."

"Would someone explain who the ugly man in the wheelchair is, before I have to order the Regent Squad to escort him out of the chief house?"

"That is Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex, the guy responsible for creating Crash," explained Yaya, only saying Cortex's middle name just to spite him. "In addition to that, he's pretty useless from time to time."

"Like you can talk about being useless, at least I made big contributions to the _Crash Bandicoot_ series..." Cortex's snarky remark earned him a glare from Yaya, as the panda readied her spear. "Put away your spear, Yaya, I didn't mean what I said!"

"There will be absolutely ZERO fourth wall breaking in the chief house, especially in the presence of Chief Waterloo," stated Webbed Foot, sending Cortex a stern warning. "Failure to comply to this rule will result in an indefinite ban from entering the chief house."

"Well before you ban me from this place, or outright kick me out...I must ask if the chief can do me a huge favor." Chief Waterloo looked on with intrigue, as Cortex pulled out a mask - one none other than the mighty Uka, still lifeless. "Since a tribe resides in this estuary, and every tribe has a shaman or witchdoctor...I was wondering if you know a person that could bring my mask back to life. If it's the least you can do."

"That mask looks like it had seen some stuff," remarked one of the frog tribesmen, noticing the scowl on Uka's face.

"We do have a salamander shaman in our tribe, but he's not with us at the moment," Chief Waterloo answered Cortex's plea. "He's down at the end of the estuary, gathering grasshoppers like he usually does every afternoon or so. He should come back soon."

"Excuse me, Chief Waterloo, but is there by any chance that you know where the Mask of Willpower is?" Coco asked the chief, grabbing her attention. "We came here because the mask we're looking for is located in this..."

"You all must have a peculiar fascination with masks...not that it's a bad thing." Chief Waterloo hopped down from her high chair, so she could speak with our heroes face-to-face. "I know exactly what your purpose is, I really do...I've read the prophecy scroll, and it says that the chosen one has to find the Mask of Willpower first. Otherwise some bad mojo will go down."

"How convenient that you read the prophecy scroll before..." remarked Tropy, before furrowing his brow in curiosity. "...but how did you acquire said prophecy scroll in the first place?"

"Let's just say that it's a bit of a secret...someone did give it to me in fact, but I'll keep their identity safe, for now."

"Chief Waterloo, Chief Waterloo!" an axolotl rushed inside the chief house, needing to deliver an important message to Chief Waterloo at once. "Our shaman, Sitting Droplet, has been attacked! My men I and saw him being harassed by these two researchers while we were scouting the estuary. He could be in grave danger!"

"Not our precious shaman...I tell you, he's always finding himself in these predicaments." Chief Waterloo turned her attention to Crash, knowing the bandicoot could save Sitting Droplet from danger. "Hey chosen one, how about you make yourself useful and rescue our shaman? And if you manage to bring him back, I'll tell you where the mask is..."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me," grinned Crash. "I'm always in the mood for saving people. C'mon guys, let's go!" Leading his team of Coco, Crunch, Fake Crash, Yaya, and Grutika, Crash ran out of the chief house, now on a mission.

"You heard the bandicoot - let's save that shaman guy so he can bring Uka back to life!" Cortex said to his group of Tropy, Nina, Pasadena, Von Clutch, and Zola. "I want to rescue Sitting Droplet before Crash does, so that I'll have all the bragging rights for the rest of the journey! Or at least, for the time being."

"I'm terribly sorry mister, but you're not going anywhere," Chief Waterloo said sternly, as Cortex grumpily folded his arms. "Not in the condition that you're in."

"The condition that your silly tribesmen put me in, throwing spears at my surgically repaired knee...they ought to be fired!"

"Firing a tribesman for dealing with intruders isn't a reasonable thing to do. Also, I can't just fire someone outright from a...regent...squad..."

Chief Waterloo found herself trailing off, when a smoke bomb fell from the ceiling. The smoke bomb went off, eventually filling up the entire chief house with smoke. With everyone coughing, the smoke quickly subsided, until everything was clear again.

"Was that...a sneak attack?" wondered Chief Waterloo, as mostly everyone shared her concerns. "Haven't had one of those in a good while. Those eagles from the Comhnall Morass must be trying to engage us in another needless prank war. Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, Chief, everyone appears to be okay," reported Webbed Foot, scanning the entire scene. "Though I can't help but feel like someone's missing...one of our guests must've disappeared."

"It's Nina!" fretted Cortex, noticing that the goth girl was nowhere in sight. "My daught...er, niece, has been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?!" exclaimed Chief Waterloo, unable to process the fact that Nina was likely kidnapped. "Commander Cyrus must be making things personal this time around in this prank war...guess that means we'll have to strike back for once!"

"I highly doubt Commander Cyrus and the eagle army had anything to do with Nina's disappearance, and I should know from a first-hand experience," stated Tropy. "This could be the work of the Dark Confederation - what they wish to do with Nina, I do not know."

"Look you guys, somebody left some footprints!" Pasadena pointed at the floor, at a trail of webbed footprints that led out of the chief house. "You think someone from the village kidnapped Nina?"

"Don't know what they would even want to do with Nina, but we'll just have to find out ourselves," replied Zola, before turning her attention to Chief Waterloo. "Chief Waterloo, if you may, will you excuse us so we can find our friend?"

"Losing a comrade like that is obviously a big deal, so I will excuse you so you can find Nina and bring her back safely," said Chief Waterloo. "Now as for Dr. Cortex...I'm afraid he'll just have to stay behind, until his knee heals."

"Are you out of your darn mind, do you not know how long knee injuries heal?" frowned Cortex, getting out his Warpinator. "Good thing I thought up of a perfect solution..."

With the Warpinator in his hand, Cortex pressed a button, and warped Dingodile to the chief house. The mutant, strangely wearing a cooking apron, had a tray of lasagna in his hands.

"There is a really good explanation for this," Dingodile said to Team Cortex, who was looking at him all funny. "Anyone care for some lasagna?"

"This is Dingodile, one of my lovely minions - he'll push me around in my wheelchair," Cortex explained to Chief Waterloo and the tribesmen. "I may be injured at the moment, but that won't stop me from using my ray gun..."

"Good gravy Dr. Cortex, you just got here and you're already hurt. That has got to be a new record or something."

"Get to pushing or I'll have to vaporize you..."

"At ease, mate, I was just teasin' with ya! Have to get rid of this lasagna first."

"I'll take that lasagna off of you," Webbed Foot said to Dingodile, taking away the tray of lasagna before returning to his squad. "...we're definitely saving this lasagna for dinner tonight."

"Agreed," one of the tribesmen responded. "Sick and tired of dragonfly casserole..."

"So where are we headed, mates?" asked Dingodile, as Cortex pointed at the trail of webbed feet. "Just follow the trail? That should be easy. Though I do feel like that trail leads to a trap somewhere, but we won't know unless we..."

"Shut up and get to pushing..." frowned Cortex, as Dingodile pushed Cortex out of the chief house with the rest of Team Cortex following him.

* * *

Away from the village, Team Crash was down at the waterside of the estuary, looking for the shaman known as Sitting Droplet.

"Hehe, Sitting Droplet is such a silly name," giggled Crash, keeping his eyes peeled for the shaman. "Wonder how that tribe picks out their names. Does that tribe even have a name to begin with?"

"I was going to ask Chief Waterloo what the name of her tribe was, but I was scared that she would've accused me of just being nosy," replied Aku. "She could have ordered that Regent Squad to attack me! Did you see what they did to Cortex?"

"Well it's Cortex, he was bound to be attacked anyways. Poor guy has terrible luck, no matter the..."

Crash would stop speaking, as our heroes came to a stop when they saw a black being in front of them. It was a Shadow, a member of the Gloombreed that our heroes fought in their previous adventure. The most basic of Gloombreed, the Shadow was looking at Team Crash, looking for a fight.

"Uh...we did get rid of the Gloombreed after we defeated Exodus, right guys?" asked Fake Crash, as our heroes got on the offensive.

"The Gloombreed have something to do with the Excalibur sword, that I know..." replied Grutika. "I know the Excalibur sword was held at the Gemstone Island State Building for safekeeping, and now it's certain someone took it without permission..."

"Who cares about that sword, Crunch wants to kick some butt!" frowned Crunch, as he defeated the Shadow with his mechanical fist. "Who wants some?!"

Suddenly multiple Gloombreed of different shapes and sizes appeared, encircling our heroes. Except that most of the Gloombreed were of different species - the likes of which Team Crash has never seen before.

"Grutika, have you seen these kind of Gloombreed before?" Crash asked the Indian fox, as Team Crash found themselves cornered.

"From an earlier experience, yes," replied Grutika. "Something tells me that some Keystone Island students are lurking around...but if we want to find them, we'll have to take care of the Gloombreed first."

And take care of the Gloombreed our heroes did, as they rushed into action. Crash did his classic spin move; Coco used her excellent karate skills, Crunch utilized his strength; Yaya attacked aggressively with her spear; Grutika defeated the enemies through the use of gravity; and Fake Crash was running about like a ninny. Team Crash wouldn't stop fighting until all the Gloombreed were dispelled.

"That should be all of them," stated Crash, dusting his hands off. "But seriously, where did those Gloombreed come from?" Can't be an adventure without having some enemies getting in your way.

"As I've said, the reappearing of the Gloombreed has something to do with the Excalibur sword," replied Grutika. "Someone must have the sword in their possession...someone from the Dark Confederation, I assume. Maybe the person with the sword will show up, one day. One day..."

* * *

Team Cortex traversed through the Luong Estuary village, with Dingodile pushing the leader, Cortex, on his wheelchair. Cortex had his ray gun locked and loaded, ready to use it if necessary.

"What you lookin' at fool?!" the mad scientist snapped on an innocent frog, who was simply minding her own business as she led her children down the street. Cortex gave her kids a death glare, just for good measure.

"I can one hundred percent guarantee you that frog had nothing to do with you, Dr. Cortex," Tropy said to the N head.

"Of course she didn't, you bozo! I was just trying to improve upon my street cred. Want it to be as high as possible for as long as we're in Keystone Island."

"Hard to improve upon what is already nonexistent," remarked Zola, as Cortex shot a death glare at the young woman.

"Leave her alone, Dr. Cortex, she just doesn't know," Dingodile told the mad scientist, doing his best to keep his contentment high. "She doesn't know you that well yet, so obviously..."

Dingodile was so busy talking, that he bumped into an frog, standing in the middle of street like he owned the place. Dingodile stopped, and so did the rest of Team Cortex.

"Whoops, sorry about that folks," the frog apologized to Team Cortex. "This is my favorite sunbathing spot, here in the street. My friends keep telling me to move somewhere else, but clearly they don't want clear skin like I do. Say, are you all visitors?"

"Yes we are - this is our first time in the Luong Estuary," replied Cortex, trying to remain cordial. "There's so many frogs and toads here, I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"Ha ha, yeah I feel ya, man. So are you folks lost? Need me to give you directions?"

"We're looking for a certain someone," replied Dingodile. "Nina Cortex, the niece of the guy sitting in the wheelchair. We've been following a track of webbed footprints on the ground, and..."

"Oh you mean footprints like these?" the frog moved out of the way, pointing at the footprints. "I'd say it's easy to follow the trail of footsteps so far, but after that..."

The frog moved out of the way even more, revealing a whole bunch of directions the footprints had taken. Left, right, middle...it was all over the place.

"This is definitely some Dark Confederation crap," sighed Cortex, wondering which path our heroes should take.

* * *

Team Crash kept traveling down the estuary, searching for the shaman known as Sitting Droplet. According to Chief Waterloo, Sitting Droplet was a salamander, and apparently Fake Crash didn't know what a salamander looked like.

"So are salamanders like Gila monsters or something?" the bandicoot asked the others out of curiosity.

"Some...what," replied Coco. "They look like lizards, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, and short limbs. I'd like to think of it as an aquatic lizard."

"They also come in different colors - most of them have colorful patterns other their skin," added Yaya.

"Oh okay, I get it now...so a salamander would be that guy with a tail, getting beat up by those dudes in the lab coats." Fake Crash pointed at an amphibian, lying on the ground helplessly as two men wearing lab coats were beating him up, kicking him repeatedly.

"Yeah, that right there is a salamander," replied Yaya, before frowning when she and our heroes saw the beating taking place. "Hey, what are you two doing? Show yourselves!"

The men in the lab coat would indeed show themselves...as the stopped the senseless beating and turned around, revealing some kind of giant leech sucking on their faces. And they didn't appear they were acting on their own accord, either.

"Mind-controlling leeches..." uttered Aku, as our heroes stared in shock and fear.

"You know what those things are?" asked Crash.

"No I don't, I was just assuming the species of whatever those leeches were. Trying to advance the story, if you will."

"These fools must be the researchers that messenger warned Chief Waterloo about!" said Crunch. "Looks like we're gonna have to pry them leeches off their faces!"

The two researchers moaned like zombies, as they walked towards our heroes with their arms outstretched. While Yaya went over to check on the salamander, the rest of Team Crash had the researchers to deal with.

"Are you alright, sir?" Yaya asked the salamander, checking to see if he was okay. The salamander slowly rose up to his feet, adjusting the frog skull headdress he wore on his head.

"I am doing just fine, but I feel better now that I have some help," the salamander replied with a smile. "I'm Sitting Droplet, from the Luong tribe. Mind if I ask who you are?"

"I'm Yaya Panda, a friend of Crash Bandicoot." Sitting Droplet's eyes understandably went wide upon hearing Crash's name. "There he is, dealing with those men that attacked you earlier." Yaya pointed at Crash, who was fighting the researchers along with the others. Sitting Droplet was in complete awe.

"The chosen one, the great Crash Bandicoot...has finally arrived in the Luong Estuary!" Sitting Droplet was laughing to himself, laughing in total disbelief. "Incredible, simply incredible! Does Chief Waterloo know about this?"

"Why of course - we first met her when we arrived at your village. She even sent us down here to rescue you. So I guess all I can say is, you're welcome..."

"All done!" announced Crash, once Team Crash was finished with the researchers. Both men were lying on the floor unconscious, with the leeches off their faces. "Did you check on the salamander dude, Yaya?"

"Sure did - he doesn't look that banged up," replied Yaya, as she and Sitting Droplet joined the heroes. "And he's the guy we were looking for!"

"Crash Bandicoot, it is great to meet you in person," Sitting Droplet said to the bandicoot, shaking his hand. "I am Sitting Droplet, the shaman of the Luong tribe. I cannot express how much it means to see you."

"...and the gratuitous Crash lovefest continues," sighed Grutika, as Coco shared her sentiment.

"Uh, it's great to meet you too, Sitting Droplet," replied Crash, wondering when the lovefest surrounding him would end. "The people back at the village miss you dearly."

"I'm sure they do - most people say that I'm the heartbeat of the tribe. Especially given how young dear Chief Waterloo is. Without me, the tribe would suffer..."

Crash and Sitting Droplet looked down, and saw the giant leeches squirming around on the floor. Sitting Droplet picked one up, looking at it inquisitively.

"These leeches must've been what drove those men in the lab coats insane," stated Sitting Droplet, paying special close attention to the θ on the leech's back. "We'll take the leeches back to the village, along with the researchers. I can revive the researchers' senses in my hut."

Did those leeches come from a member of the Dark Confederation? That was for Sitting Droplet to find out...

* * *

We now return to Team Cortex, who followed the trail of footprints to the end. At the end of their destination, they came across a large tribal house. Nina had to be inside.

"Dingodile will push me inside that house, and then, you all jump in behind me to solidfy a cool entrance!" Cortex explained to his team, who wasn't so down with the idea. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Or we could just enter the house like regular, dignified people," suggested Dingodile, leading Cortex to frown and fold his arms. "We can always do that!"

"My goodness, you people are no fun...fine then, let's go ahead and do your boring way, then..." So Dingodile pushed Cortex inside the tribal house, with Team Cortex following along...

...and once inside, Team Cortex found themselves as the only ones inside the tribal house. That is, until they looked up and saw two individuals wearing robes and masks - one had a θ mask, the other a Z mask. The latter was holding an unconscious Nina in their arm.

"I recognize that attire...you must be members of the Dark Confederation, aren't you?!" Cortex pointed at the duo, who snickered evilly. "Had a feeling the Dark Confederation was behind my daughter's kidnapping... _niece's_ kidnapping, I mean."

"We are members of the Dark Confederation - the higher-ups of the Confederation, that is, and not the lackeys that do the dirty work for us," replied the member with the Z mask. "While those dorks are out throughout the island creating havoc, we're hunting down folks that play as pivotal chess pieces in the prophecy..."

"Nina, a major player in the **Fallen Prognosticus**?" -dramatic music- "Well I truly believe _I_ should be deemed more worthy over her, but good for Nina, I suppose...so what do you even want to do with Nina in the first place?"

"What we plan to do with your niece is none of your concern," replied the member with the θ mask. "What is most important is that we take your niece to our lair, so we can commence with our plans."

"Not unless we can stop you...also, would you mind revealing your identities? I want to see what my victims look like, before I kick their butts to oblivion!"

"You wanna see what we look like?" asked the member with the Z mask. "I bet you want some introductions too, huh? Suit yourself..."

At the same time, both Dark Confederation members took off their hoods, and then their masks. The person with the Z mask was a petite woman, with her auburn hair tied up in a braid, and the person with the θ mask was a toad.

"I am Sebille, the Zeta of the Dark Confederation, and this toad is my partner-in-crime, Duri - he's the Theta," the woman introduced herself and the toad to Team Cortex. "We both work for a new leader, now that Daniil Yerofeyev is all reformed...happy now?"

"More than happy," Cortex replied with a smile...before sporting a serious facial desposition. "Now hand me back my niece, and nobody gets hurt!"

"Oh it won't be that easy, buddy..." said Duri, and as Sebille snapped her fingers, Gloombreed appeared and surrounded our heroes. Team Cortex got on the offensive, with the Gloombreed drawing close. "Don't think we'll give up your stupid niece _that_ easily. We've yet to use her for our true purpose."

"And to ensure that our purpose is fulfilled, we'll sit and watch the Gloombreed kill you all..." snarled Sebille, with a devious grin on her face. "Let's see what you dorks are made of..."


	9. Chapter 9: Return of the Shaman

**Chapter 9: Return of the Shaman**

Team Cortex found themselves cornered by Gloombreed in a large tribal house in the Luong Estuary, with Sebille and Zuri, two members of the Dark Confederation, watched over them from above. They had Nina in their possession, and the goth girl was a major player in the **Fallen Prognosticus** -dramatic music - at least according to Sebille.

"So here's what we do...I fire the shots, Von Clutch fires the grenades, Pasadena and Dingodile use their flamethrowers, Zola will manipulate the earth, and Tropy swipes away with his large stick," Cortex discussed his game plan, offending Tropy in the process.

"It's a _staff,_ not a 'large stick'," the master of time clarified.

"Stick schmick, we have no time for arguing. I must get back my Nina at once!"s

"If you want your stupid daughter...or niece...back that badly, then you're just gonna have to fight for her," said Sebille, wanting to see what Team Cortex was made of. "Better get to it, if you wanna see your precious Nina again!"

So Team Cortex quickly got on the offensive, to take care of the Gloombreed, with Cortex firing shots from his ray gun, Von Clutch firing grenades from his grenade launcher, Pasadena firing flames from her flamethrower, Tropy firing fire balls from his staff, and Zola fire sand from her...hands. Dingodile was pushing Cortex along, to keep the scientist safe.

"Ha, we dispelled all of the Gloombreed!" said Cortex, once all the Gloombreed were dispatched. "Now hand me back my niece or...else?"

Cortex looked up at Sebille and Zuri, surprised that the two were no longer there. Meaning that they had escaped with Nina in their possession!

"Drat, drat, double drat - they held us up on purpose so they could get away!" frowned Cortex, wishing he could stomp his foot in anger. "Not only that, but they also scouted us so they would know what tactics to use when we fight them one-on-one...Pasadena, this is all your fault!"

"Now wait just a darn minute, how was this MY fault?" questioned an angered Pasadena. "I didn't even do anything!"

"I know you didn't - I just felt like placing the blame on someone else. Blaming Tropy all the time has gotten boring."

Before Cortex could continue onward with the blame game, he saw that Dingodile was fiddling around with a remote in his hand. Said remote made Team Cortex very curious...

"Say, Dingodile, what's that you got there in your hand, ya?" Von Clutch curiously asked the mutant.

"It's a tracking device I had borrowed from Brio," explained Dingodile. "I was playing around with it until you mates warped me here. Comes with these technical tracking mites you can attach unto others."

"Must be a very useful device," remarked Zola, as Dingodile showed off the tracking mites he spoke of. "Do you think it'd be useful for tracking down Sebille and Zuri?"

"Precisely...which is why I attached those tracking mites to those scoundrels while we were fighting the Gloombreed. Knew they'd escape while the Gloombreed kept us busy. With those mites, we can track down those members of the Dark Confederation, and find their hideout so we can take out their leader for good!"

"Sounds like a stellar plan to me," nodded Tropy. "Can you see where Sebille and Zuri are headed, on your device?"

"Sure can - thanks to the radar map on this device. But the radar can only scan the surrounding area, so I'll only be able to detect our crooks in the Luong Estuary. If they venture out of the estuary, then I won't be able to track them...so we better hope Sebilel and Zuri remain in the estuary, for Nina's sake."

"Sitting Droplet, you have finally returned!" a tribesman could be heard outside, as there was a furor of positivity brewing outside the tribal house.

"Well, that's our cue to head back to the chief house..." Cortex said, before turning to Dingodile. "Tropy shall push me on my wheelchair for the remainder of the trip. Once you get back to the mansion, tell Brio to upgrade that device of his! Or you can just _not_ tell him. I'd love to have all the bragging rights."

"I shall inform Brio first thing once I return," said Dingodile, as he saluted Cortex.

* * *

Once Dingodile returned to Grantor's mansion, Team Cortex returned to the main part of the village, where they saw the tribesmen rejoicing in the fact that Sitting Droplet had returned, safe and sound, thanks to Team Crash. Everyone was gathered around the resident shaman, embracing him like he was a president arriving in town.

"Sitting Droplet, we can't believe you're still alive!" a frog said to the shaman.

"Yes, I can't believe I'm still alive myself," Sitting Droplet smiled. "All thanks to the chosen one, and his wonderful friends."

"Sitting Droplet, you're awesome, the greatest guy on this planet!" a toad said to the shaman.

"Now that's a bit of a stretch sonny...but I'll take whatever I can get."

"Sitting Droplet...will you please sign your name on my headdress?" a salamander approached the shaman, taking off his headdress and taking out a marker.

"Where on earth did you find that writing utensil..."

"Stole it from the researchers, no biggie."

Not wanting to ask more questions, Sitting Droplet took the headdress and signed his name on it with the marker, unsure what significance it was. He then handed the headdress back to the salamander, who giggled as she ran off.

"This Sitting Droplet fellow is a much bigger deal in his tribe than we've ever imagined," remarked Tropy, advancing through the crowd, as the giddy salamander ran past Team Cortex.

"A much bigger deal than _you_ have ever imagined," clarified Cortex, though Tropy paid him no mind. "Don't think I heard you mumbling about saving Sitting Droplet was that big of a priority..."

"In all honesty, I'm surprised that you even heard me mumble in the first place. I guess I have to hand it to you, Dr. Cortex..."

Team Cortex would catch up to Team Crash and Sitting Droplet, with the shaman still relishing in the euphoria of his fellow tribesmen. Crash saw Team Cortex appear.

"About time you guys showed up," the bandicoot remarked, before noticing that someone was missing. "Hey, where did Nina run off to?"

"I'm afraid Nina was kidnapped...by two members of the Dark Confederation," replied Zola, making Crash shocked as ever.

"Nina? Kidnapped? By the Dark Confederation? What do those bums even want to do with her?"

Zola was unable to answer, for silence found its way to the Luong Estuary when the tribesmen silenced. Chief Waterloo appeared, and the tribesmen stood to the side as they allowed the toad to advance. In her way was Fake Crash, who had to be moved by Webbed Foot.

"Sitting Droplet, welcome back to the village!" exclaimed Chief Waterloo, as Sitting Droplet flashed a smile. "I see that you have returned unharmed..."

"Well I did have a few bruises, but they're healed now," replied Sitting Droplet. "I wouldn't have made it back, if not for Crash and his friends."

"And me!" Fake Crash blurted out, though nobody paid him any mind.

"I'd say we have a feast, to commemorate Sitting Droplet's return," suggested Chief Waterloo. "What say you, everyone?" The tribesmen collectively cheered, which was a resounding yes.

"Why is Chief Waterloo planning a feast?" Coco whispered to Yaya. "It wasn't like Sitting Droplet was lost forever..."

"Maybe she finds the most mundane reasons for having feasts," shrugged Yaya, as everyone followed Chief Waterloo. "Probably throws a feast anytime someone catches a fish or something..."

* * *

Our heroes gathered with the all the tribesmen from the village in a giant tribal house, which one might consider a giant cafeteria. As expected, Chief Waterloo was seated at the front, with Sitting Droplet and the heroes.

"I must say, Chief Waterloo, this food is unlike anything we've ever eaten in the past," Sitting Droplet said to the chief, extremely impressed. "Care to explain the change in the menu?"

"We do have some special guests over, so we can't feed them the usual stuff we consume," replied Chief Waterloo. "It may not be a part of our diet, but we had to accommodate for everyone..."

"If you ask me, we should 'accommodate' more often. Every day, even."

Chief Waterloo smiled, as she resumed eating her food. As she did, she looked to her right, and saw a despondent Cortex.

"I take it you didn't find your daughter, Nina?" the chief asked Cortex, who sighed. "Or is it niece? She's your niece, right?" Cortex would sigh yet again.

"Someone took my precious Nina away...that dastardly Dark Confederation," replied Cortex, as Chief Waterloo's eyes bulged.

"Th-The Dark Confederation? They were in the estuary?"

"Yes they were - we saw them in a house, with Nina in their possession."

"And you couldn't do anything to stop them and retrieve your niece?"

"They distracted us with Gloombreed so they could get away...but once I see them again, I'll make sure to get my Nina back!"

"So not only do we have a Dark Confederation problem, but we might have a Gloombreed problem as well...I should look into reinforcing our tribe's defenses."

"You said you saw the Dark Confederation, Dr. Cortex?" Crash asked the N head, stuffing food into his mouth. "What did they look like?"

"There were two members we saw - a woman and a toad," explained Cortex, trying to remember the Dark Confederation members' names. "The woman was named Sebille, and I think the toad's name...was Zuri."

Upon hearing Zuri's name called, Chief Waterloo immediately stopped eating, as she was seemingly frozen in time.

"Chief Waterloo, is there something wrong?" Sitting Droplet asked the chief, who slowly turned her head to Cortex.

"Zuri...did you just say, Zuri?" Chief Waterloo asked Cortex, to make sure that she wasn't hearing things.

"You know him?" questioned Cortex, noticing Chief Waterloo's great shock.

"I do know him, I know him very well...in fact, Zuri's my long-lost older brother."

"Your older brother is in the Dark Confederation?" said Fake Crash, sympathizing for Chief Waterloo. "Wow that must really suck...no wonder your parents went missing."

"Don't be so insensitive," Coco scolded Fake Crash, slapping the back of his head.

"Both of my parents went missing because they were looking for Zuri..." stated Chief Waterloo, feeling the need to tell a long story. "Zuri left the village a long time ago, after some Russian guy allured him to join his cause. Promised Zuri he would let him rule the world, and with an iron fist..."

"Daniil Yerofeyev..." uttered Aku, knowing who this Russian guy was.

"Yeah, that was his name, Daniil Yerofeyev! He must've been starting his whole Dark Confederation thing around the time. But still, I never would've imagined Zuri would join him...in fact, I don't see any mention of Zuri in any of the prophecy scrolls for **The Fallen Prognosticus**." -dramatic music- "They just list a Zodiac symbol each member identifies with!"

"When did your parents notice that your brother was missing?" asked Pasadena, wanting to hear more of the story.

"Roughly an hour or two after Zuri followed Yerofeyev. My parents were hoping Zuri would come back, since he was fulfilling some duties in the village, but he never did...and so, my mom and dad set off to find Zuri and bring him back. But they never returned...and with everyone assuming that my parents died courageously searching for Zuri, I was soon named chieftain of the Luong tribe."

"We're very sorry that Yerofeyev led your brother Zuri astray, Chief Waterloo," Yaya apologized to the chief. "But if it makes you feel any better, Yerofeyev has been reformed - although you probably knew that already, if you read the Dark Fate prophecy scroll. We don't know where Yerofeyev is, for what he's up to, but..."

"Chief Waterloo, Chief Waterloo, we have an emergency!" alerted Webbed Foot, as he entered the giant tribal house. Everyone focused their attention on the frog.

"Ugh, can it wait, Webbed Foot?" groaned Chief Waterloo. "I was trying to tell a story here..."

"Your story will have to wait, unfortunately. It's Buster...he has returned!"

"Are you serious?" Chief Waterloo groaned yet again, slamming her fists on the table. "Thought I told him well not to come into the estuary again..."

"I don't mean to be a bother, but who is this Buster fellow?" inquired Von Clutch; judging by the name, Buster didn't sound like a huge threat.

"Just someone who has been a thorn in our side for years. No matter what we do to keep him out of our estuary, he just keeps on coming back...and since you guys are here, maybe we can get rid of him for good."

"Having the heroes of the prophecy deal with Buster is a good idea," Webbed Foot agreed with Chief Waterloo. "But what about the researchers? We need someone to watch over them, or else Buster will..."

"We saved the two researchers, so we'll do the watching," volunteered Crash, on behalf of his crew. "Cortex and his pals will deal with Buster."

"No fair, how come _we_ have to do all the hard work, while you and your stinking friends get to do the soft stuff?" pouted Cortex, feeling the need to yell at Crash for no reason. "How unfair!"

"Cortex, all you did was look for Nina," stated Grutika. "We, on the other hand, had to save Sitting Droplet _and_ fend off the researchers, who were infected at the time. Save your complaining for later."

"Well whoever this Buster is, he doesn't sound that menacing. I'm sure he'll be a walk in the park!"

* * *

Team Cortex gathered with the Luong Tribe's 2nd Regent Squad, at the part of the estuary that rested within the village. The Regent Squad had their spears out, ready to go.

"Before Buster shows up, we must first devise a strategy, one that is effective and to the point," Cortex said to everyone, taking his leadership role seriously. "Now, who wants to serve as the fall guy, or as bait?"

As expected, everyone pointed their finger at Cortex, much to the chagrin of the mad scientist. It was a good thing Uka wasn't pointing.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Cortex took a deep breath, trying to suppress his anger. "ASIDE FROM MYSELF, who wants to serve as the fall guy or bait?"

"I don't believe there's a correct answer to this question, or any answer at all," a member of the Regent Squad offered his take, angering Cortex.

"Grrraaaaah! Why is it that every time we do something like this, _I_ have to serve as the bait?! Someone tell me why!"

"Because you suck in general," another member of the Regent Squad replied, shrugging his shoulders. Cortex growled in anger.

"Tropy, Von Clutch, Pasadena, Zola...tell this stupid frog that I don't suck! Do it for my reputation!"

'Why do you want us to lie in order to make you feel better?" questioned Zola, making Cortex even angrier than before. The N head stomped his foot on the ground repeatedly.

"THAT'S IT! No more Mr. Nice Guy! Granted I was never nice to begin with...but I'm done taking crap from everyone!" Before Cortex could continue, he stopped when he heard a sound. "Does anyone else hear that?"

The others listened closely, as everyone heard a loud swimming noise. Like some giant fish was approaching the village. Everyone had their eyes focused on the water, and looked beyond and saw a giant shark fin fastly approaching.

"Here he comes...everyone get on your guards!" alerted the leader of the 2nd Regent Squad, Stretched Tongue, as everyone got on the offensive. Soon the giant shark fin reached the end of the estuary, before revealing itself to be...

...well, just a giant shark. If you thought it was something else, then there might be something wrong with you.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the stinking Regent Squad..." the giant shark grinned, his gnarly sharp teeth showing. "...and what's this? You brought me some prey? Why thanks, you shouldn't have!"

"Is this who I think it is?" asked Von Clutch, as he looked at Stretched Tongue.

"Indeed - this is none other than Buster, the white shark who has terrorized our village," replied Stretched Tongue, as our heroes started laughing. "Something wrong?"

"Hey, why is my prey laughing?" frowned Buster, triggered by the laughter. "They're not laughing at me, are they?"

"Must be something in the water," a member of the Regent Squad assumed, as the laughter died down. But Buster was still hurt.

"Man, it would suck if we have to fight this shark later on," remarked Pasadena, wiping away a tear after she was done laughing.

"What are you trying to say woman?" frowned Buster.

"I'm just saying that you would make for a terrible boss fight."

"Boss fight?! What do you think this is, a video game?! Get outta here with that beeswax!"

"You know, for a guy who's supposed to be evil, you sure don't speak or act like one," stated Tropy, triggering Buster further.

"Oh yeah, well how about I prove it then!" Buster would prove he was a villain...by snatching a few members of the 2nd Regent Squad with his teeth, before eating them, leaving our heroes and Stretched Tongue in shock.

"Nooooo, not Spotted Eye, that guy owed me money!" cried a member of the Regent Squad, as he fell unto his knees.

"You guys have a currency in your tribe?" Von Clutch asked Stretched Tongue, who had his lips pursed.

"...we won't talk about that until we return to the chief house," was all Stretched Tongue could say, as Buster was finished eating the members of the 2nd Regent Squad.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm, delicious!" exclaimed Buster, as he licked his lips. "So, who's next?"

"I for one elect Dr. Cortex," said Tropy, pushing Cortex out towards Buster. Buster licked his chops, as Cortex was growing nervous.

"Tropy why are you doing this to me man?" questioned Cortex, getting shivers down his spine. "I know you hate me, but still..."

"Trust me and maybe you won't die..." Tropy gave these words of advice to Cortex, before bolting away. Cortex looked back at everyone, before looking up and seeing Buster, grinning from ear to ear...or rather, gill to gill.

"You may not be the most appetizing thing in the whole wide world, but I guess you'll do..." Buster told Cortex, before snickering evilly. Cortex gulped, as he closed his eyes and turned away, fearing for the worst...

...but suddenly, Buster screamed, as he flailed on the water surface in pain, splashing water about. His eyes were closed, and they were stinging.

"Gah, got stupid sand in my eyes!" the shark writhed in pain, as a gush of sand was fired at him. This sand came from none other than Zola, who was blowing the sand out of her mouth like she was blowing a dandelion. Cortex looked amazed...and grateful.

"And you wanted me to be the bait..." Cortex said to Zola, once she was done dealing with Buster. "...well I hope you got want you wanted!"

"Technically, I never agreed upon making you the bait for the shark, but keep believing what you want you believe," responded Zola, as she grabbed Cortex and pushed him away.

"Never have I dealt with more annoying prey before..." remarked Buster, once his eyes started to clear up. "I thought the frog guys would be easy pickings, but with these new folks, I might have to come back stronger next time! You won't be so lucky!"

On that note, Buster dove into the water and swam away, swimming down the estuary never to be seen again...but just for the time being.

"We're gonna have to fight that shark later, don't we?" Pasadena asked Stretched Tongue, who nodded his head with the utmost certainty.

* * *

With Team Cortex unable to take care of the threat that was Buster, Team Crash was checking upon the two researchers they rescued from the so-called "mind controlling leeches". Both researchers were up and awake, inside Sitting Droplet's hut, as they got to know our heroes and our heroes got to know them.

"Dougal McDavid...David McDougal," Coco pointed at the two researchers, trying to differentiate between the both of them. "Why must you two have so similar names?"

"Frankly we've never met a person who has never asked us that," replied Dougal, with a sigh.

"It's our fault for being roommates in college, if you ask me," added David, with a shrug.

"Ah, speaking with the researchers, I see!" exclaimed Sitting Droplet as he entered his hut with a smile. "Mr. McDavid and Mr. McDougal, how are you both feeling?"

"That's Dr. McDavid and Dr. McDougal to you, Sitting Droplet sir," corrected Dougal. "And since you asked so kindly, we're both doing quite swell. Thanks to Crash and his friends."

"So, Dr. McDavid and Dr. McDougal, you probably don't mind if I ask this, but..." Crash braced himself, before asking: "What convinced you to come down to the Luong Estuary?"

"To study the plant and marine life, mostly," replied David, taking out a notebook and showing his findings to our heroes. "This is a collection of the pictures Dougal and I have taken during our studies. Some of them are a little unpolished..."

"What's that camel, with the long neck?" asked Fake Crash, pointing at a random picture.

"That...is a giraffe." David felt offended that he even had to answer that.

"If you want, I can show you some more pictures, on my digital camera," said Dougal, as he reached for his camera...only to realize that it wasn't there! "Oh no, my camera's gone missing!"

"Fool, you camera ain't missing, it's not like it ran away!" frowned Crunch. "You probably left it at that place where we saved y'all behinds."

"Eh, you're probably right...can you do me a favor, and retrieve my camera for me? If it's the least you can do..."

"I'll stay here and keep watch of the researchers, while they heal," Sitting Droplet said to our heroes, allowing them to leave. "Don't mess around!"

* * *

Our heroes returned to the very spot where they saved Sitting Droplet, in search for Dr. McDougal's camera. They searched high and low for the camera, which was nowhere to be found.

"Fake Crash, stop looking into the water," Crash told the bandicoot, as he looked behind a tree. "I doubt Dr. McDougal would want a damaged camera back."

"How do we know the camera isn't waterproof?" questioned Fake Crash, peering deep into the river.

"If cameras were waterproof, and there might be levels of oxygen in Jupiter's atmosphere. And before you can say anything, Jupiter _is_ a real planet. Not a figment of your own imagination."

"Still a fake planet to me..."

Crash sighed, as he resumed his search. Time passed, and nobody could find the digital camera. Might as well call the search off...

"Looking for this, Crash Bandicoot?"

Our heroes stopped their search, as they looked up at two individuals standing on a rock. One was a blonde dude with pale skin, and wore Gothic clothing like he was some kind of vampire...and he had red eyes, so maybe he _was_ a vampire. The other person was a black-haired chick, who wore all black. They both wore amulets around their neck - the boy's amulet was purple, while the girl's amulet was purple too, but with a lighter shade. Both amulets had a hand symbol on it, with six fingers.

"I believe this is what you're looking for," the boy said, as he took out the digital camera Crash and company were looking for. "Take it or leave it!" The boy threw the digital camera on the ground, at Crash's feet, breaking the camera in the process.

"Hey, you did that on purpose!" Crash pointed at the boy with a frown. "Who do you think you are?!"

"How about I tell you...I'm Draven, and this is Lorelai. We're both from an evil academy, in case you were wondering..."

"Draven...Lorelai..." Crash saw the amulets around Draven and Lorelai's necks. "...so you must both be evil!"

"About time you figured it out..." said Lorelai. "...for a chosen one, you sure aren't that observant. Or bright."

"You take that back!"

"Did you guys find the camera yet? Sorry for being so far away from you..."

Grutika, who searched for the digital camera away from Team Crash, would join our heroes as she approached them, before her face sank when she saw Draven and Lorelai. Both of whom were ecstatic to see the Indian fox.

"Ah, Grutika Johal..." smiled Draven, sensing the disgust in Grutika's eyes. "...about time we see each other's faces again."


	10. Chapter 10: Shark Attack

_Previously, in Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Prognosticus:_

 _Our heroes stopped their search, as they looked up at two individuals standing on a rock. One was a blonde dude with pale skin, and wore Gothic clothing like he was some kind of vampire...and he had red eyes, so maybe he was a vampire. The other person was a black-haired chick, who wore all black. They both wore amulets around their neck - the boy's amulet was purple, while the girl's amulet was purple too, but with a lighter shade. Both amulets had a hand symbol on it, with six fingers._

 _"I believe this is what you're looking for," the boy said, as he took out the digital camera Crash and company were looking for. "Take it or leave it!" The boy threw the digital camera on the ground, at Crash's feet, breaking the camera in the process._

 _"Hey, you did that on purpose!" Crash pointed at the boy with a frown. "Who do you think you are?!"_

 _"How about I tell you...I'm Draven, and this is Lorelai. We're both from an evil academy, in case you were wondering..."_

 _"Draven...Lorelai..." Crash saw the amulets around Draven and Lorelai's necks. "...so you must both be evil!"_

 _"About time you figured it out..." said Lorelai. "...for a chosen one, you sure aren't that observant. Or bright."_

 _"You take that back!"_

 _"Did you guys find the camera yet? Sorry for being so far away from you..."_

 _Grutika, who searched for the digital camera away from Team Crash, would join our heroes as she approached them, before her face sank when she saw Draven and Lorelai. Both of whom were ecstatic to see the Indian fox._

 _"Ah, Grutika Johal..." smiled Draven, sensing the disgust in Grutika's eyes. "...about time we see each other's faces again."_

* * *

 **Episode 10: Shark Attack**

Grutika found herself in utter disbelief, as she was looking up at Draven and Lorelai - two students sent to the Luong Estuary from their evil headmaster. Grutika had quite the history with those two, it seemed like.

"Wh-What are you two doing in this estuary?" Grutika had to ask the two Keystone Academy students. Yeah, Keystone Academy...that's what we'll call it for now.

"Just searching for a mask - the Mask of Willpower," replied Lorelai, easily amused by the shock written in Grutika's face. "What, you and your friends are looking for that mask, too?"

"Yes we were, and that mask has our name on it," replied Crunch, stepping up to the plate. "So move aside, you fools!"

"And who might this be?" questioned Draven, taking a closer look at Crash. "Is that...the brother of the chosen one, Crunch Bandicoot? Yes, I've heard much about you, yes indeed..."

"They must've found me on my social media pages..." Crunch whispered to Aku, feeling slightly insecure. "...thought I made them all private!"

"Clearly you didn't do a great job..." murmured Aku.

"Alright you two, we don't wanna fight - we just wanna get what we came for, and leave peacefully," Coco said to Draven and Lorelai. "So if you would please..."

"No, if _you_ would please, just head back where you came from, and let _us_ get the mask ourselves," retorted Lorelai. "That should make things easier for you, right?"

"This Lorelai chick is pushing quite the hard bargain, but she's pretty hot though," Fake Crash quietly discussed with Crash. "I think we should take up on the offer."

"So you want her and Draven to take the masks themselves?" frowned Crash. "We're not trying to help out the enemy!"

"No man, think about it - we let the students get all eight masks, and then at the last moment, we'll steal the masks away from them? Huh, huh?"

Evidently, Crash wasn't on board with the idea, not one bit.

"Now you look here, Draven and Lorelai, we came here for a reason, for a specific purpose, and you're not gonna get in our way," Crash said to the two students, completely ignoring Fake Crash. "So how about you return to your little school or whatever, and..."

"I don't think that would be necessary, Crash Bandicoot."

Suddenly a gust of wind, as our heroes blocked their faces to block any flying debris. Then, sticking a perfect landing next to Draven and Lorelai was some guy with black hair, wearing an amulet around his neck similar to Draven and Lorelai. Our heroes recognized this dude from before...but it was Grutika who recognized him the most.

"Ah, this must be our first time meeting each other...save for Grutika, of course," said the dude, as Grutika's face sank even more. "You can call me Ilmari Koskinen - I happen to be one of the eighteen pupils from the Keystone Island Academy. I see you've already met my fellow classmates, Draven and Lorelai..."

"Just great, another fool whose butt we have to kick!" frowned Crunched as he cracked his knuckles.

"I believe it'll be you and your friends who'll have your butts kicked...Draven, Lorelai, you two look for the mask, while I hold these peons off." Draven and Lorelai did as they were told, as they left the premises. "Been waiting for this moment, for a long time..."

"You've been waiting to fight me or something?" questioned Crash. "Not gonna lie, that sounds especially creepy, especially from a stranger like yourself."

"I think he meant to say that he's been waiting for someone to kick his butt," said Fake Crash. "Since, you know, we have a flawless track record against evil students."

"Hey, we've kicked the butts of Chantex's pupils, so this guy shouldn't be any different," stated Coco, not thinking of Ilmari as a challenge.

"Silence you fools!" shouted Ilmari, shutting our heroes up. "Since you want to talk a big game, I'll have to shut your mouths permanently..."

Ilmari grew white wings, and flew up into the sky, flying over our heroes. He then fired a powerful vortex of air at the heroes, who managed to jump out of the way.

"Cortex and his ray gun would be really useful right now..." remarked Yaya, as she hurled her spear at Ilmari, who used a gust of wind to reflect the spear. Fortunately Yaya caught her spear in the nick of time.

"Well Cortex obviously isn't here, so we'll just have to do with what we got," said Cortex, who resorted to firing wumpa fruit at Ilmari from his wumpa bazooka. Ilmari, using his flight to his ability, dodged the fruit, scoffing at Crash's accuracy and attack method.

"It'll take much more than some lousy fruit to stop me, bandicoot," the student shouted at Crash, only to receive a handful of wumpa to the face. Ilmari wiped away the wumpa, before firing a gust of wind at our heroes, blowing them away.

"Ah dang nabit, Crunch ripped his pants!" grunted Crunch, having stuck a landing after being blown away. There was a rip in his pants, revealing his boxers, and Crunch covered up the rip immediately.

"Grutika, can you do something to stop Ilmari?" Aku asked the Indian fox, who was looking up at the flying Ilmari. Grutika had quite the bone to pick with Ilmari, so why pick it now?

"I think I got something up my sleeves..." replied Grutika, using her powers to manipulate the earth and make a bunch of rocks levitate from the ground. These rocks circled around Grutika, who looked at Ilmari with intimidating eyes.

"Oh how cute, you're using rocks to stop me..." smirked Ilamri, still flying in the air with his arms folded behind his head. Looked like he was relaxing on a couch, but in the air. "What are you gonna do with them, throw them at me? I'd rather see you..."

Ilmari would be cut off, when Grutika threw a rock at him through the means of gravitational force. Ilmari dodged the rock, before Grutika threw another one at him. And another one. And another one. And another one. Until Grutika struck Ilmari with a rock on her sixth attempt, sending the student crashing down into the water.

"I got him, I got him!" yelled Grutika, as our heroes approached the water to see if Ilmari would come out of it. They all quickly got on the offensive, expecting Ilmari to pop out at any given second...

...but nothing happened. Until down the stream, Ilmari popped out and flew up out of the water on his wings, away from our heroes. He was back up in the air, holding the place where Grutika struck him at.

"You guys have won this round...for now," Ilmari said to our heroes. "But I can guarantee you that next time around, you won't be so fortunate." Ilmari then directed his attention entirely on Grutika. "And as for you, Grutika, all I can say is...you were better off as a villain. Azalea should've kept you that way."

On that note, Ilmari flew away, either back to the Keystone Academy or to parts unknown. The last sentence left Team Crash rather confused.

"How does Ilmari know about Azalea turning you all into evil students?" questioned Aku. "Does he have some sort of allegiance with the Dark Confederation?!"

"I doubt it - but then again, Ilmari could be a secret agent for the organization," replied Grutika. "I think we should keep a close eye on him and the other students in the future."

"Crash, Crash Bandicoot, have you found McDavid's camera yet?" a member of the 2nd Regent Squad approached Crash. Crash picked up the broken digital camera, and showed it to the frog. "My goodness, what happened to it?"

"Some delinquent threw it at my feet," replied Crash, handing the broken camera to the frog. "His name was Draven, and he was alone - brought some gal named Lorelai with him. They're up to no good."

"Ah, I take it you have met those two already?"

"Whaddaya mean, you saw them before?"

"Yes I did...two minutes ago to be exact. They're attacking the village as I speak."

"Those fools are attacking the village?!" frowned Crunched, ready for a fight. "Why aren't you doing anything to stop them?"

"Because I'm just a frog, man...only thing I'm capable of is whipping people with my tongue. And I can't even do that right. I should give up on life."

"You can give up on life another time, we gotta head back to the village, and fast!" said Crash, as our heroes and the 2nd Regent Squad returned to the village.

* * *

Team Crash and the 2nd Regent member returned to the village, which was overrun by Gloombreed of different shapes and sizes. Members of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regent Squads were battling the monsters, while the worthless 4th Regent Squad watched from a safe distance, watching the higher-ranked squads do their thing.

"Sock it to 'em, sock it to 'em, rah rah rah..." the members of the 4th Regent Squad chanted. But they weren't just chanting for the three Regent Squads. They were also chanting for the Komodo Bros, slicing and dicing the Gloombreed with their swords.

"About time you bums got here!" Komodo Joe shouted to our heroes. "These monsters have been taking over the village like crazy!"

"Where's Cortex and the others?" asked Crash.

"They returned to the village not so long ago," replied Komodo Moe. "Then the Gloombreed started to show up, along with some two teenagers wearing amulets around their necks! Must be some evil delinquents..."

"He must be referring to Draven and Lorelai," Coco said to Crash, before returning her attention to the Komodo Bros. "Where are those two?"

"Inside the chieftain's hut, along with Team Cortex. I think they're after the chief girl..."

* * *

Fearing for the well-being of Chief Waterloo, Team Crash headed inside the chief house, and to their shock, saw Team Cortex lying on the floor in pain. Last person to be sent to the floor was Tropy, who was knocked out by a sucker punch from Draven.

"Look, Draven, we have visitors!" Lorelai alerted the teen, as she pointed at Team Crash. "It's the bandicoot and those dorks again!"

"Figured they would be scurrying back to the village," smirked Draven, turning his attention to Crash and company. "What are you here for, huh?"

"Tell us what you did with Chief Waterloo!" Crash pointed at Draven and Lorelai defiantly.

"I'm...I'm right here, Crash," Chief Waterloo poked her head out from her high chair, so she could be seen.

"Chief Waterloo is safe...for now," stated Draven. "As we stated before, we came to this estuary looking for a mask...and if we don't get what we want, the chief is gonna pay!"

"Not on my watch!" shouted Webbed Foot as he arrived at the chief house, along with the 1st Regent Squad. "Either you leave the premises, or we'll have to escort you out with force!"

"Oh please, what's a bunch of frogs gonna do to us?" taunted Lorelai, not threatened in the slightest. "Watcha gonna do, hurt us with your itty bitty spears? Give me a freaking break!"

"I'm not going to tell you again...leave the premises, NOW."

Draven and Lorelai did not oblige - instead, the summoned a horde of Gloombreed, to fight the 1st Regent Squad. None of the squad members were able to fight the Gloombreed as they were beaten up, thrown around, and kicked on. Team Crash would helped out...

...but Draven and Lorelai were heading towards Chief Waterloo, with the 1st Regent Squad distracted. By the time Draven and Lorelai reached the high chair, where Chief Waterloo was shivering in fear...they were greeted by a guest.

"Going somewhere?" Aku floated down in front of Chief Waterloo, protecting the toad. Draven and Lorelai backed away, only to bump into Crunch.

"You fools are going DOWN!" the burly bandicoot screamed, as he grabbed the two students by the collar and threw them on the ground behind him, where the rest of Team Crash was. Crash was about to lay a beatdown on Draven and Lorelai...

...but before he could, some thick black smoke entered and filled up the entire chief house, making everyone cough. When the smoke died down, Crash saw that the Gloombreed were gone, as well as Draven and Lorelai.

And as for Chief Waterloo...she was gone as well!

"Oh my, Chief Waterloo has gone missing!" panicked Aku, seeing that the chief was no longer hiding behind her high chair. "Someone must've kidnapped her!"

"Bet it was those Keystone Academy fools, they must've had a remote-controlled smoke machine outside!" assumed Crunch, already jumping to conclusions! "Those fools are always one step ahead!"

"I doubt they had anything to do with the smoke, Crunch," stated Yaya, with Webbed Foot searching for Chief Waterloo. Members of the 1st Regent Squad headed out to search for their chief. "If anything, this was likely the doing of the Dark Confederation."

"Didn't Chief Waterloo say that her brother was a part of the group?" Fake Crash perked up. "What if her brother wanted to nab her? I got a bad feeling about this..."

Team Cortex would soon rise up to their feet, after spending a minute or two on the ground in pain. They too had to endure the smoke, and they too wondered where Chief Waterloo went, as they looked around.

"Has Chief Waterloo been kidnapped?" asked Tropy, who woke up from his unconsciousness rather quickly as he rubbed his head. The smoke must've helped.

"I'm afraid so...and the two teenagers are gone," replied Webbed Foot. "My men are searching for Chief Waterloo's whereabouts as I speak." A member of the 1st Regent Squad headed back inside the chief house, to inform Webbed Foot about something.

"Webbed Foot, I just scouted the surrounding area - the village is now clear of monsters," the frog told Webbed Foot. "It was all thanks to those Komodo dragons. As for our chief...a local witness told me that she was being carried away by two individuals wearing cloaks. They were headed towards the end of the estuary."

"The Dark Confederation..." Webbed Foot uttered, before regaining his composure. He turned his attention to our heroes, knowing they could rescue Chief Waterloo. "I know you all have been through a lot today, but on behalf of the entire tribe, we would greatly appreciate it if you could..."

"Say no more, Webbed Foot...we're gonna bring Chief Waterloo back to the village," assured Crash, as Webbed Foot flashed a smile. "Right after I give Mr. McDavid his camera back. But before that, a trip to the bathroom would be nice...do you have any bathrooms?"

"We have specific ponds in the village meant for urinating. We never clean them, by the way."

"Yeah...I think I'll take my chances with the shrubbery."

* * *

After his pee break, Crash would return the camera, albeit broken, to Dougal, who was less than pleased.

"That was the only camera we had..." said a despondent David. "...we totally forgot to bring our spare cameras."

"Spare...cameras?" Crash raised an eyebrow. "You know what, I'm not gonna question anything."

"A great researcher should always be prepared," stated Dougal, as he placed his broken camera in his backpack. Sitting Droplet entered his hut, wanting to speak with Crash.

"Your sister has informed me that you're planning on rescuing our chief," the salamander said to Crash. "Please make sure to bring her back, safe and sound!"

"That's already on my agenda," assured Crash, giving Sitting Droplet a thumbs up.

* * *

At the very end of the estuary were the two members of the Dark Confederation - Sebille and Duri, with the latter carrying his sister, Chief Waterloo, over his shoulder, and the former carrying Nina over hers. Our heroes arrived at the scene.

"You guys just don't know when to quit, don't you?" sighed Sebille, shaking her head.

"Yeah, yeah, we would like one Chief Waterloo please, if you don't mind," responded Crash. But Duri wasn't willing to give up his sister that easily.

"No way we're giving you Chief Waterloo," Duri said to Crash, standing firm. "What we plan to her is none of your concern."

"C'mon big brother, just do what Crash says, and let's just...move on from this," Chief Waterloo said to Duri. "And then, you can move on from the Dark Confederation."

"I'm never listening to a trash little sister like yourself."

Duri's remark left our heroes speechless, as Chief Waterloo looked at her brother all crazily.

"Duri...do you really mean that?" the chieftain asked, to make sure she was hearing right.

"Mean it with all my heart. I view you the same way I view the rest of the village...utterly pathetic."

"You don't mean that, Duri, you're just lying to me! It's all lies, I tell you! Lies, lies, LIES! What would mother and father think of you?!"

"Who cares what they would think of me...and besides, I killed them anyway."

Duri's heartless admittance about killing his and Chief Waterloo's parents was obviously upsetting to Chief Waterloo, whose eyes widened with the left eye shedding a tear. Our heroes had the same amount of shock.

"Y-Y-You were the one who killed mom and dad?" stammered Chief Waterloo, unable to process what was real anymore. "...b-b-but why?"

"To prove my worth to the Alpha of the Dark Confederation, Daniil Yerofeyev," explained Duri. "Sacrificing our parents for a spot in the Confederation was the only option I had."

"Terribly sorry, but your brother speaks the truth, sweetheart," stated Sebille. "And unfortunately for you, your mom and dad won't be the only family members to be deceased...amirite Duri?"

"Yes you are Sebille, and now, I'm going to do what I should've done years ago...now, it is time..."

It was time indeed, as a shark fin came swimming out from the ocean to the estuary. Team Cortex identified who it was, when Buster the shark appeared out of the water, ready for his feast.

"I'm here!" Buster announced, much to the chagrin of Team Cortex. "Dinner is served...for me!"

"Pipe down, or you won't get your food..." ordered Sebille.

"Who is that shark fellow?" asked Aku. "Is he the shark that's been harassing the villagers?"

"That's the one! His name is Buster. And he's gonna eat Chief Waterloo alive!"

"And my niece, what are you going to do to her?" asked a wary Cortex.

"We're taking her to our base for inspection. We might give her back to you when we're done...emphasis on might."

"You won't...do anything terrible to her, will you?"

"We won't say..." Sebille grinned, with an evil smile that certainly didn't quell Cortex's fears.

"Can we please get this whole thing over with?" expressed Chief Waterloo. "I really wanna go back home!"

"Oh you'll be going home alright...to mom and dad," Duri replied in a heartless tone, as he turned to face Buster. "Alright, Buster, it's time for your meal!"

"Aw what, I have to eat that stupid toad?!" frowned Buster. "Man, I wanted to devour to goth girl instead! Sure she might look filthy, but she's quite delectable!"

"My niece is not filthy, take that back!" Cortex angrily shook his fist at Buster.

"So you won't oblige...just as I figured," said Duri, as he took out his right hand, which had an θ symbol on it, and the symbol glowed. Duri then leaped unto Buster, and his hand was still glowing.

With his glowing hand, Duri placed it on Buster's head, causing the shark to shake, like he was being possessed. In a matter of seconds, Buster's skin became darker, and his eyes were an evil red. Duri had seemingly taken control of Buster, thanks to his hand.

"Sebille, go and take the Cortex girl away," Duri told Sebille, who nodded as she darted away. "I'll deal with the bandicoot and the other pests..."

Riding atop a new and improved Buster, looking mean as ever, Duri used Buster to fire beams of energy...from Buster's mouth. Our heroes dodged these beams, before Tropy fired a beam of his own at Buster.

"Nice try, hotshot..." said Duri as he took the beam, and redirected it at Tropy, sending him flying.

"If he keeps that up, we'll never land a hit on him..." remarked Tropy, as he got off the ground.

"We should try attacking from up above," said Grutika, as she summoned a bunch of rocks and held them over Buster. She dropped them on the shark, but Duri was one step ahead.

"Ah, raining rocks from the sky...no good," replied Duri, summoning Buster to fire eye beams at the rocks, destroying them. "Whatever you attempt to throw at me, it won't work. I got all my bases covered..."

Duri would speak too soon, when Zola summoned a gust of sand and directed it at Buster's eyes. The shark screamed in pain, as it flailed around on the water.

"Yes, it worked!" exclaimed Zola, while Duri did his best to maintain his control and balance on Buster. "That should hold off the eye beams, for now."

"Stay still, you stupid shark!" frowned Duri, as Buster continued to flail. Buster began firing beams from his mouth, and our heroes ran for cover.

"Big brother, I'm starting to feel a little queasy here..." said Chief Waterloo, still being carried over Duri's shoulder.

"Shut up or I'll feed you to the shark..."

With Duri losing his balance on top of Buster, Cortex charged up a plasma shot, and fired it at the toad. This worsened Duri's balance, as he was now standing on one foot. Yaya then threw her spear at Duri, and by dodging by the spear, Duri fell backwards into the water, bringing Chief Waterloo along with her.

"Okay guys, we got him now!" announced Crash, as our heroes were ready to go to work on Buster. By the time they reached the shark, Duri fired a beam of energy at the heroes, repelling them from Buster.

"Not on my watch, bandicoot!" the toad said, as he and Chief Waterloo got out of the water. "Fire away, Buster!"

Buster did as he was told, firing more beams from his mouth at our heroes. Zola summoned a wall of sand to block the attacks.

"Since these pests want to be a major pain in the butt..." Duri said to Chief Waterloo, dragging her close to Buster, "...I'll get this over with and feed you to the shark!"

"Crash, help me - Duri's trying to turn me into shark food!" Chief Waterloo called out to the bandicoot, with Duri covering her mouth to prevent her from speaking. Crash rushed into action, as he dove into the water and swam towards Chief Waterloo.

"Crap I just realized...I can't swim!" panicked Crash, as he sank into the water.

"Whaddaya mean, he just realized?" Fake Crash asked Coco. "Thought he knew that already..."

"I don't see you saving the chief of the Luong tribe," retorted Coco, as Fake Crash looked at Duri, dragging Chief Waterloo towards Buster. Buster had his mouth wide open, ready for his feast.

No way was Fake Crash going to allow it. So he did what he had to do...

The bandicoot screamed like a banshee, as he ran towards Buster. Duri looked up and saw this.

"Watch out Buster, that ugly bandicoot is trying to attack you!" the toad warned the shark, who turned around and fired lasers at Fake Crash. The bandicoot dodged the beams, albeit in dramatic fashion, as he reached Buster, before punching the shark in the face. It was quite an effective punch.

In fact, it was so darn effective, that it sent Buster flying towards Duri. Duri screamed as he held up Chief Waterloo...

...before Cortex swooped by on his hoverboots and rescued Chief Waterloo, taking her out of Duri's hands, and allowing Buster to swallow Duri whole.

"Now for the finishing blow..." said Cortex, high up in the air, as he fired a large fireball at Buster. The fireball struck the shark, causing him to explode into a million pieces. And just like that, Buster - and Duri - were gone.

After the explosion, however, a mask was seen flying up into the air, before landing in the hands of Coco. Was that the mask our heroes were looking for?

"Hold up, was that the Mask of Willpower?" Crunch questioned, after he rescued Crash from drowning. "Can't believe that dumb shark had the mask in his belly this whole time...thank goodness it wasn't digested!"

"Only one way to find out if this mask is the real deal," said Coco, as Crunch brought Crash over to the blonde bandicoot. "I think this is the mask we've been looking for."

Coco handed the mask to Crash, which depicted a Hispanic woman with reddish-brown hair. Crash held the mask in his hands...and it came to life!

"Hello, who's this?" the mask asked, as she looked at Crash. "Ooh, a bandicoot! You must be Crash, right?"

"...yes, it is I, Crash Bandicoot," replied Crash.

"You're the one destined to save me from my fate, aren't you? I'm so happy you came! I've heard many great things about you!"

"And it continues..." murmured Zola, as Cortex descended to the ground holding Chief Waterloo.

"What is that, is that the mask?" Chief Waterloo asked.

"It most certainly is - we finally found it!" exclaimed Crash. "We found the Mask of Willpower!"

"Um, that's Gabrielle, for you..." the mask stated her name. "...also, the 'Mask of Willpower'? Don't like the sound of that..."

"As it turned out, the mask was in Buster's stomach the whole time," stated Zola. "He must've eaten it somewhere."

"Well I did see the mask, flying up in the air after Buster was destroyed," said Chief Waterloo. "Which...unfortunately, resulted in Duri meeting his end as well."

"Eh, Duri was a bad guy, he had to go," remarked Von Clutch, only to receive a nudge from Pasadena.

"Wait a sec...isn't that Duri's partner-in-crime?" wondered Pasadena, when she saw a certain girl run back to the premises with Nina. It was Sebille, who was astonished to see Buster and Duri nowhere in sight.

"Wh-Where did Duri go?" Sebille asked, out of breath. Then, leaping out from the shadows were the Komodo Bros, donning their swords. Sebille saw them and got out of the way, before the Komodo Bros threw their swords at her and causing her to drop Nina in the process.

"Get out of the estuary, you hear?!" shouted Komodo Joe, as he and Moe threw their swords at Sebille until she was out of sight. With Sebille gone, and Nina out of her clutch, the Komodo Bros stopped throwing their swords.

"Oh, hi everyone, I see you rescued the chief and found the mask!" Komodo Moe said to our heroes. "Awesome!"

"Why aren't you bozos at Grantor's mansion?!" Cortex scolded the Komodo Bros.

"Because you forgot to warp up back there."

"That is right...it was that frog's potbelly that distracted me. Why must I have such a fascination with big stomachs...screw you, internet!"

"...I think now would be a great time to head back," stated Chief Waterloo.

* * *

With Chief Waterloo saved, the Mask of Willpower found, and the Dark Confederation gone away from the estuary, it was time for our heroes - and the Komodo Bros - to say their goodbyes. They met with Chief Waterloo and the rest of the Luong tribe at the village.

"On behalf of my tribe, I would like to thank you all for saving our village from Buster, and from the Dark Confederation," Chief Waterloo thanked our heroes, with Webbed Foot and Sitting Droplet at her side. "Your efforts will be remembered, and will be kept sacred for a long time."

"Well what can we say - saving the day is kinda our thing," grinned Crash. "Sucks that your brother had to go, but what had to be done had to be done..."

"You're right about that, Crash. I resent that Duri had to join the Dark Confederation...and stoop as low as killing our parents to prove his worth to the leader...but he got what was coming for him, in the end."

"Before you go...I must give you this," Sitting Droplet approached Cortex, carrying two vials. "While you were away, I concocted some potions that will revive your niece, and your floating mask. You should use them immediately, once you return home."

"Will do," assured Cortex, accepting the vials from Sitting Droplet while Crunch carried the N head's niece.

"Guess it's time to head back now, since we got our mask," remarked Crash. He looked up, and saw David and Dougal, standing with the Luong tribesmen. "McDougal, McDavid, you wanna come with us to Pridwen?"

"We would return home, but Dave and I still have some work to do in this estuary," replied Dougal.

"Besides, my wife will pick us up anyways once we're through," added David, before smiling romantically. "She's a real keeper..."

"Okay..." uttered Crash, before looking down at Gabrielle, in his hands. "Can you teleport us to Pridwen?"

"Sure can do!" smiled Gabrielle. "Haven't been in Pridwen in such a darn long time...everyone ready? Pridwen away!"

And with that, our heroes...and the Komodo Bros..teleported away to Pridwen, after a job well done.

Meanwhile, looking overheard while standing on the chief house was an individual wearing a blue jumpsuit with black markings over it, holding a scythe...accompanied by another individual, also wearing a jumpsuit but red in color, while wielding a scythe as well.

"We'll get him later..." the blue jumpsuit figure told his friend, as the two individuals walked away.

 **End of Chapter 10**

* * *

But wait, there's more!

We now turn our attention to the unnamed building that was featured in chapter 7 - the same building with the room where the silhouettes met. Eighteen silhouettes were in attendance in this room, all circled around the giant figure with red eyes.

"Draven, Lorelai, how did you screw up your mission?" the giant figure questioned.

"It was Draven's fault, he couldn't stop Crash!" the purple silhouette, Lorelai, spoke up.

"No, it was thanks to that smoke that Crash got away," the black silhouette, Draven, stated. "We had to get away, for our own safety."

"I see...and because of that, you both ended up empty handed," said the giant figure. "Utterly pathetic..."

"Should we look into finding the next mask of the prophecy, headmaster?" asked the pink silhouette.

"Yes we should...that mask, is the Mask of Valor. Which is in the Temple of Ichabod, I believe. Renee, Eily, and Bridget...you ladies will find that mask. Understood."

"We got it covered," replied Renee, giving the giant figure a thumbs up.

"Excellent. Meeting adjourned."

So the eighteen silhouettes went away, leaving the giant figure by himself. He turned around, seemingly in thought.

"A member of the Dark Confederation, Duri, has been killed..." the figure said, before shaking his head. "Makes me wonder who'll be next...but at least we have our newest recruit..."


	11. Chapter 11: Familiar Faces

**Chapter 11: Familiar Faces**

After retrieving the Mask of Willpower from the Luong Estuary, our heroes made it back to Pridwen, through teleportation provided by the mask itself, named Gabrielle. Gabrielle was the name of the Maverick whose soul was trapped inside the mask our heroes found, and not else was known about Gabrielle yet.

But if there was one thing, she was quite the curious one.

"So how did the yellow guy with the N on his head turn out to be so ugly?" Gabrielle curiously asked our heroes, as they returned to the mansion. Cortex had an angry scowl throughout the entire walk.

"I've sent a letter to Cortex's parents, asking the same thing," replied Tropy, stroking his whiskers. "They haven't replied yet, so I can only assume they don't know either."

"That's because you sent the letter to the wrong address..." stated Cortex, who was holding the lifeless Uka. "Which is why I had to send the letter to the right address myself!"

"Oh really? And did your parents ever respond?"

"Of course they did, why would they leave their precious son hanging?"

"What did the your parents say in response to Tropy's letter?" asked Crash.

"They said they tried to get the doctors to fix my face, but the doctors refused to take any chances."

Realizing that he just said this out loud, Cortex would remain silent until our heroes - and the Komodo Bros - returned home.

Which didn't take them that long, as they arrived at Grantor's mansion immediately. There they found N. Trance and N. Gin, cleaning off the mansion of toilet paper.

"It's best if none of you ask," N. Gin told our heroes, really wishing he was somewhere else right now. "Also, we got some new guests while you guys were away, hehe!"

"These 'guests' you speak of better not be annoyances," said Grutika. "I just wanna go in, say a little words, and leave...got an speech on astrology to prepare for."

"No worries, my fox friend, the guests aren't that bad," assured N. Trance. "You'll see eventually, after you see your new room."

"New...room? I'm not gonna stay here, am I?"

"Why don't we head on inside and see for ourselves?" replied Tropy, as our heroes went up the walkway to the front door. Crash opened the door...

...and saw Tiny in the living room, chugging a gallon of milk, with the minions, Chick, and Stew cheering him on.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug..." they all chanted in unison, until Tiny finished off the entire gallon. The tiger threw the gallon unto the floor, and flexed his muscles as the others cheered.

"Now let's see if he can hold in the milk without throwing up..." said Roo, as the minions waited. Seconds passed, and Tiny had his mouth close shut...and did nothing. "Yes, twenty seconds, that's a new record right there!"

"Tiny don't feel so good..." the tiger held his mouth as he ran away from the living room, running to the nearest bathroom. At that moment, the minions finally saw that our heroes have returned.

"I see you guys have been doing productive things while we were away..." remarked Cortex.

"Yes, Master Cortex, you see, we actually did do productive things while you were at the estuary!" exclaimed N. Gin, rubbing his hands together.

"I gained a few extra pounds from weight lifting!" stated Kong, flexing his muscles.

"I watered all the plants in Grantor's garden!" stated N. Trance, expecting the heroes to see his work.

"I helped the former students move into their new rooms!" stated Dingodile, eschewing his helpful side.

"And I washed all of your clothes, just for you, Cortex!" stated N. Gin, making Cortex judge him greatly.

"Okay that's just creepy," remarked Crash, before he started to furrow his brow. "Wait, did you say something about...former students?"

"Forget about them, Crash, they're not important," replied Cortex, as he took out the two vials Sitting Droplet had given him. The mad scientist motioned Crunch to place Nina and Uka on the couch. "What is important is that I revive Uka and Nina at once!"

"You know, we could've done this _before_ we returned to the mansion," Tropy offered his two cents.

"Shut up Tropy, I don't need your useless commentary! Save your snarky comments for another time!"

"Hey, I'm just saying, don't get mad..."

With the vials in his possession, Cortex would pour the concoctions into Uka and Nina's mouths, allowing them to swallow. (Well, just Nina, since she had a throat.) Once the deed was done, Cortex took a step back, hoping the potions worked.

And then, Nina's eyelids slowly lifted open, before her eyes opened wide. She looked around, surprised to be back at Grantor's mansion.

"Wh-what happened?" the goth girl wondered, as she rubbed her head. "Back so soon? Did we find the mask already?"

"We sure did, my niece!" smiled Cortex, as he happily hugged Nina. "Or are you my daughter? No matter, I'm just happy that you're awake again!"

"Eh, I'm glad that I'm back in the city now, to be honest." Nina looked up, and saw something that prompted her to tap Cortex on his shoulder. "Uncle Cortex...you might wanna turn around?"

"What for?" Cortex turned around, albeit slowly, and shrieked at what he saw.

There, floating in his presence, was none other than his guardian mask, Uka.

"You stupid idiot...how long have you let me remain unconscious?!" the floating mask boomed, scaring the pants off of Cortex. "Tell me, TELL ME!"

"Ever since our new adventure began..." Cortex meekly replied, cowering in fear just in case.

"A new adventure started, and you didn't tell me? Man, I feel so left out..."

"We even got our first mask!" exclaimed Pasadena, as Crash held up Gabrielle for Uka to see. That did nothing but make Uka even angrier.

"What, already? Cortex, how long has this adventure last?"

"Only a few days..." Uka grew even angrier, letting out an angry scream as he was cloaked in fire.

"A few days is too much! How could you do this to me, Cortex, why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"...because you've been unconscious?" Uka angrily fired a fireball at Cortex, making the mad scientist jump out of the way.

"It appears that Cortex's guardian mask still maintains his temper..." Grutika whispered to Zola, and Uka was quick to notice.

"And what's this? You've forced these former pupils of Chantex to tag along with you for your adventure? And you never even bothered to invite ME?! Dr. Cortex, I feel extremely hurt!"

"For the record, we were kinda forced to work with Cortex," stated Zola. "Or I was forced, rather. Now I understand what his allies have to go through..."

"Ah, Uka, I see you're finally awake! Such perfect timing!"

Coming down the stairs was Grantor, along with Brio. The two arrived in the living room, delighted to see Uka floating again...and frowning again, for some reason.

"You two again..." grumbled Uka, who figured he would be seeing Grantor's face once more. "...guess this means we're off to saving the island, aren't we?"

"Not just the island...the entire universe as we know it," replied Grantor, as Uka's eyes widened. "The evil force we have to deal with is the Dark Confederation - the same group that rendered you lifeless - and according to the prophecy scrolls, they wish to destroy the universe entirely..."

"You hear that Cortex, a bunch of evil scrubs have better evil plans than you! How does that make you feel?!"

"...fine, I guess, I've grown to accept that everyone has a better evil plan than me," replied a self-depreciating Cortex. "Even high school bullies can come up with better plans than I could!"

"Has Uka been picking on Cortex the entire time?" Brio asked the others.

"It's been nothin' but the Cortex pity party downstairs, as far as we're concerned," replied Pasadena.

"I can see...anyways, why don't Grantor and I show you whats new upstairs? There's a bunch of familiar faces living with us upstairs!"

"Familiar...faces?" asked Gabrielle, garnering the attention of everyone. "Ooh, are these familiar faces my friends? They're still alive, right? Please tell me they're still alive..."

"Holy smokes Crash, you found the Mask of Willpower!" exclaimed Grantor, acting like Crash didn't have a single chance at finding the mask in the first place. "Not that I never doubted you or anything."

"Hi Grantor! Long time, no see! Do you know where my friends are?"

"Hello to you too, Gabrielle...and no, I don't know about the whereabouts of your friends. But I can easily tell that you've have made new friends with the heroes already!"

"Yes, well, some of them...but I won't be saying names!"

"FLYING KARATE KICK!" a loud voice shouted from upstairs, followed by a loud, quick thud. Our heroes - and Grutika and Zola - were quick to recognize who this voice belonged to.

"Please don't tell me..." moaned Coco, as Grantor gave a knowing smile.

"I think it's about time I showed up the familiar faces," the elderly badger said.

* * *

Grantor would lead everyone upstairs, where the bedrooms where. The badger took the group to one bedroom, and inside it was Behrab...and Luigi, a former pupil of Chantex, who wielded the element of strength.

"WICKED LEG DROP!" the Taiwanese teen shouted, performing a leg drop on the punching bag below him. Once he got up, and looked towards the door and saw our heroes, he did a double take, before falling backwards unto the floor.

"Acted like you seen a ghost, mate," chuckled Behrab, before looking up at Crash and company. "Welcome back to the city, mateys - I see you've found the mask you were looking for."

"Yup, sure did - and we kinda ran into the Dark Confederation along the way," replied Crash. "But they were no match for us. Sent them running away!"

"So you had a chance encounter with the Dark Confederation...hope you didn't take them lightly. Those blokes aren't the kind of folk you would want to..."

"Crash Bandicoot, nice to see you again!" Luigi spoke up, as he hopped up off the floor and ran over to greet Crash, bowing in front of the bandicoot. "Same to you, Coco Bandicoot, Crunch Bandicoot, Dr. Neo Cortex, Dr. Nefarious Tropy, Nina Cortex, Fake Crash Bandicoot, Yaya Panda, Ebenezer Von Clutch, and Pasadena O'Possum!" Luigi would bow to each person as he said their name.

"He's still a little extra, I see," Von Clutch quietly said to Zola and Grutika.

"Unfortunately," responded Zola, with a heavy sigh.

Grantor would take the group to the next room, which held Charles, Trent, and Zeferino. The three best friends appeared to be setting up a telescope near the window, only to stop their work when they saw Crash and company.

"Howdy," Zeferino waved to the group, still very terse as always.

"Greetings, Crash Bandicoot and friends," Charles greeted our heroes. "Trent appraised me about your arrival in Keystone Island, and I must say, it was an arrival quite expected..."

"I'm sure he did tell you..." remarked Crash. "...it's also nice seeing you again by the way, Charles. Your vocabulary is on point, as usual."

"Prime Minister Holt believed that since the former pupils of Chantex were available, and willing to help, they should be abiding with you for your adventure," explained Grantor, as Trent and his friends resumed setting up the telescope. "Which is why he recommended that the pupils live with you at the mansion, for special purposes."

"So that means we have to live at this mansion until Crash saves the world?" asked Grutika, to which Grantor nodded his head. "Man, I thought being stuck in the same academy as Luigi was the worst..."

"FLYING LEG KICK!" shouted Luigi, followed by the sound of glass breaking and a loud thud outside. "...I'm okay!" Luigi shouted, albeit in pain.

"I'll ensure that Luigi will keep his distance away from you two, if that's fine with you both," said Grantor, before continuing the tour. "On to the next room..."

The next room had two more former Chantex pupils - Xavier and Keyon. Xavier was resting against the wall, while Keyon was practicing his basketball handles.

"Hi, mon!" Keyon waved to our heroes, while still dribbling the basketball. "You're just in time - look at these great handles! They're pretty neat, don't you think so Xavier?"

"If I gave a crap about your 'handles', I'd say yes," replied Xavier, who had his eyes closed. "But frankly, you're cutting into my meditation time..."

"Don't be such a party pooper...if you need to meditate so badly, then why don't you go downstairs?"

"Because Cortex's stupid minions are there...they're hazardous for my ears...and my sanity..."

"...why don't I show you the other two rooms?" Grantor asked the group, as he led them down the hallway to the next room. Inside of it was Mildred, who was reading a book.

"Miss Mildred, the heroes have made it back safely to Pridwen!" Grantor said to the brunette, who looked up and smiled briefly before she resumed reading her book. "She's been reading that book intensely since she got here..." Grantor whispered to the others. "...we should probably leave her be."

"So which room will we be staying in?" Zola asked Grantor, once the group was out of Mildred's room.

"You will be staying with Mildred and Cynzia, while Grutika will be roommates with Inez. Inez is running some long-distance errands for me, by the way."

"In that case, where's Cynzia?" asked Crash, recalling the girl that obsessed over him in his last adventure.

"I'm right behind you, Crash..."

Crash immediately turned around, and saw Cynzia, doing a double take. The bandicoot screamed as he jumped back, nearly landing in the arms of Crunch.

"So close..." frowned Crunch with his hands open, missing a great opportunity.

"Dang it girl, why'd you have to scare me like that?" frowned Crash, as he got up off the floor. "Could've given me a heart attack..."

"I'm so sorry...I didn't intend to scare you, honest," apologized Cynzia. "I just didn't know how to greet you. We haven't seen each other in..."

"...four years, yeah, I know. Been quite a while, Actually, more than a while...eh."

"Promise me you'll keep your hands off of Crash, Cynzia," Grantor said sternly to the girl. "He _does_ have an important job to do, after all..."

"No worries Grantor, I've learned my lesson from last time," assured Cynzia, before smiling at Crash. "I'll give him the personal space he needs."

"Should've given me that personal space a long time ago..." remarked Crash.

"Hey, is this the part where we all laugh after someone says something funny?" asked Fake Crash, as literally no one responded. "Well how about it, you guys?" Fake Crash started laughing, and nobody else followed. Just silence.

"How about we catch up on things downstairs?" Cynzia asked Crash.

"Sounds fine with me," replied Crash, as everyone except for Fake Crash head downstairs. Fake Crash was still laughing away, until he realized he was all alone.

"Um, guys, where'd you go?" the bandicoot wondered, as he looked around, before walking down the hallway. "Don't tell me you're playing hide-and-seek without me! Man, why am I always the one finding the others..."

* * *

We now take you to a random part of Keystone Island, in some forestation, where some shady activity was taking place - involving the Dark Confederation. Sebille was standing by herself in the forest, looking at her watch.

"Thought they'd be here by now..." the young woman frowned after she checked her watch. Her impatience was growing with each and every second.

Suddenly a shadow was walking towards Sebille, and the shadow happened to belong to a person wearing a blue-and-black jumpsuit. No, wait...there were _two_ people wearing a jumpsuit. One was blue, and the other was red. Both men were carrying a scythe.

"Sorry we kept you waiting," the blue jumpsuit person apologized to Sebille. If you read _The Dark Fate,_ you might know who this individual was.

"Strazio...Nemesio...about time you made it," Sebille said to the blue and red jumpsuit dudes, respectively. How on earth was Strazio alive again, considering the events of the previous story? That remained to be seen. And who was Nemesio, could be be Strazio's brother?!

"Time is but a virtue, dear Sebille. Nemesio and I both had to take our time to reach this location. Not everything has to be with haste, you know."

"Yeah, especially when you're stuck dragging the newbie here!" complained Nemesio, seemingly the more exuberant jumpsuit fellow. "Kept crying about this and that, I just wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and..."

"At ease, Nemesio...we don't want to hurt Sebille's new traveling partner. Not after Duri was killed at the Luong Estuary, which I witnessed firsthand."

"Witnessing a fellow Confederation member die, good for you! Must make you feel so special, huh?! You want a badge of honor, or something?!"

"Don't make me put you on a leash..." Nemesio folded his arms, before bringing his attention back to Sebille. "Are you ready to see your new companion?"

"I've been ready since like an hour ago," replied Sebille. "Just bring him out already!"

"Whatever you say...Bart, come over here!"

A man wearing traditional Dark Confederation garb showed up, appearing out from the trees. But something was different about him...he was wearing a hoodie, with the hood over his head, and strangely enough, a mask with a smiley face on it.

"Sebille, this is your new traveling partner, Bart," said Strazio, as Bart held out his hand. Sebille shook it, reluctantly. "He's the newcomer our Alpha spoke about."

"I can already tell that we're gonna be BEST FRIENDS!" Bart exclaimed to Sebille.

"He's scaring me already," remarked Sebille, quickly retracting her hand.

"You should've seen him on the way here..." mumbled Nemesio, arms still folded.

"Nemesio and I must go now - we have some more duties to fulfill," Strazio told Sebille. "Make sure you treat Bart nicely."

And with that, Strazio leaped up into the air, with Nemesio following suit. Sebille was left alone with Bart, who was moving around with excitement.

Up in the sky flapping her wings, another one of Chantex's former pupils, Inez, had watched the entire exchange...before flying back to Pridwen.

 **End of Chapter 11**


	12. Chapter 12: In Times Past

I'm baaaaack! Sorry I kept you all waiting. Should've updated at least once last month. But at least I got this chapter posted.

* * *

 _A man wearing traditional Dark Confederation garb showed up, appearing out from the trees. But something was different about him...he was wearing a hoodie, with the hood over his head, and strangely enough, a mask with a smiley face on it._

 _"Sebille, this is your new traveling partner, Bart," said Strazio, as Bart held out his hand. Sebille shook it, reluctantly. "He's the newcomer our Alpha spoke about."_

 _"I can already tell that we're gonna be BEST FRIENDS!" Bart exclaimed to Sebille._

 _"He's scaring me already," remarked Sebille, quickly retracting her hand._

 _"You should've seen him on the way here..." mumbled Nemesio, arms still folded._

 _"Nemesio and I must go now - we have some more duties to fulfill," Strazio told Sebille. "Make sure you treat Bart nicely."_

 _And with that, Strazio leaped up into the air, with Nemesio following suit. Sebille was left alone with Bart, who was moving around with excitement._

 _Up in the sky flapping her wings, another one of Chantex's former pupils, Inez, had watched the entire exchange...before flying back to Pridwen._

* * *

 **Chapter 12: In Times Past**

Sebille was walking through the forest with the newest recruit of the Dark Confederation, Bart. Bart was a very interesting fellow - in addition to his usual Confederation attire, he also wore a smiley face mask, and a hoodie with the hood over his head. For those reasons alone, Sebille made sure to keep her distance.

"So Miss Zeta, what is my first line of mission?" Bart excitedly asked Sebille, as he skipped along.

"Your first mission is to stay the heck away from me, if you truly value your life," ordered Sebille, still keeping her distance. "So far, you aren't doing such a great job..."

"I heard that the Mask of Valor is at the Temple of Ichabod. Are we going to the Temple of Ichabod, Miss Zeta? I'd love to go!"

"No we're not going, the Alpha already found two members to take care of that. We're just looking for...'candidates' for the prophecy, that's all."

"Ooh, I love the sound of that! Is the chosen one a candidate?"

"Actually he is...given his status, he's the most important candidate of them all. So capturing him will be our highest priority."

"I see...I sure hope to see the chosen one in person. That would make my day, it really would!"

As Bart and Sebille walked through the forestation, another question popped up in Bart's head...

"Miss Zeta, will we be traveling to the Temple of Achabod?" the new recruit of the Dark Confederation asked. "To see the chosen one?"

"No we cannot, for we have other business to attend to," replied Sebille. "But on the other hand, the chosen one, Crash, is gonna see some old friends..."

* * *

Fast forward a day later, and it was morning time in the city of Pridwen. Nina, who was asleep in her bed, would soon wake up, yawning as she stretched her arms out wide. She looked towards her uncle, Dr. Cortex, and saw him asleep in his bed...with his butt sticking up in the air, with no covers on. AT least his head was resting on a pillow.

"Uncle Cortex, why must you sleep like that?" questioned Nina, waking up her uncle from his slumber. "Does it not feel uncomfortable?"

"It might look uncomfortable to you Nina, but my doctor told me that I would avoid back problems if I sleep in that position!" stated Cortex, as he crawled out of his bed. "I haven't had any issues since I followed his advice!"

"Quick question: does your doctor have a doctorate?" This was a question that took Cortex a while to think over.

"No he doesn't have one...yet, but when he does, I'll be the first to tell you!"

Nina rolled her eyes at Cortex, as she left the room and went down the stairs, to the living room. There, she found Luigi, in his pajamas, chugging a gallon of milk, as the minions were cheering him on.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug..." the minions mindlessly chanted, as Nina stood by and watched.

"MILK GALLON SPIKE!" shouted Luigi, as he threw the empty gallon of milk unto the floor and tore off his pajama shirt...by unbuttoning it. The teen was cheering, and so were the minions.

"Even with new blood in the mansion, the stupidity is still at an all-time high..." Nina sighed, as she continued on her way to the garage.

Once in the garage, Nina saw Crash training with Grantor, and oddly enough, the bandicoot's fur was a whole lot more orange than before. If it was orange. As if that wasn't freaky enough, his body was hardening, like rock.

 _"Now Crash, release!"_ a voice shouted, as Crash mustered all the strength inside of him and released a bunch of rock shards from his body. The shards traveled far cross the garage, and one of the shards even came flying towards Nina.

"Gah!" Nina shrieked, moving her head out of the way to avoid the rock shard. "Watch where you're shooting those things!"

"Whoops, my bad Nina," Crash apologized to the goth girl, before bringing his attention to Grantor. "You sure this is a great place to practice Gabrielle's abilities, Grantor?"

"We would practice in the driveway, but we shouldn't risk destroying any property," replied Grantor, taking a sip from the cup of coffee in his hands. "Last thing we'd want is to damage a neighbor's car!"

"You just keep on your little practicing thing, while I just sit here until you guys are done..." Nina said, as she sat in a dusty chair.

"I wouldn't sit in that chair, Nina...saw a black widow spider crawling all over it a while ago." Upon hearing this, Nina shrieked as she hopped out of the chair.

"D-Did you even bother killing it?"

"Why should I? It was a big one, could've been a mother. Don't want to leave her children motherless."

"Man you are such a softy..."

"Did you come here for something, Nina? Crash and I wouldn't mind if we..."

 _"Don't forget about me!"_ the mysterious voiced shouted, heard once more. It was Gabrielle, and she came from Crash's mind. Or head. Or conscience. Just pick one.

"...Crash, Gabrielle and I wouldn't mind if we put our training on hold, so you can ask us anything of importance."

"Yeah, what he said," said Crash, as Nina, who was on the floor, stood up on her feet.

"Well, I do have a question...about the Dark Confederation. Not sure if anyone told you this, but apparently they tried to kidnap me while I was in the Luong Estuary. Or at least that's what Uncle Cortex told me. Got any idea why they wanted me in the first place?"

"MINDY!" shouted Grantor, and a few seconds later, Mindy showed up in the garage. "Would you be a dear, and fetch me a prophecy scroll?"

"Yes, Grantor," replied Mindy, as the girl ran back inside the mansion and came back with a prophecy scroll in hand, giving it to Grantor. "Here you go."

"Thank you very much." Once Mindy returned to the mansion, Grantor unraveled the scroll, and scanned it up and down. "It seems as if you're an integral part of the prophecy, miss Nina..."

"Wow, I honestly didn't know I was that important to begin with," remarked Nina, extremely startled by this information. "I probably shouldn't tell Uncle Cortex about it though - knowing him, he'll probably throw a huge fit."

"According to this prophecy scroll, you're a part of a group of ten very special members. And it appears that Crash is a part of this group as well!"

"Why me, being the chosen one is hard enough!" wailed Crash. "Got too many monkeys on my back..."

"I think this calls for a video...Crash, take Gabrielle off your face, and you and Nina meet me in the kitchen. I think watching some old film will explain things far better than I can."

"Are we gonna watch film on the projector screen like we did in the last adventure?"

"Of course we are - and it's a good thing I brought my projector with me to this mansion, along with my footage. Otherwise, we'd be screwed! Or I'd be screwed, rather...I had that projector ever since I was a baby."

"Ever since, you were...a baby?" Nina raised an eyebrow.

"It was an early birthday gift...my parents were super generous with me."

* * *

While everyone was eating breakfast, Grantor grabbed his projector, and pulled it into the kitchen and placing it at the front of the table. Everyone looked at the badger, as he turned the projector on.

"We're watching a movie this early in the morning?" asked Keyon, as he was eating a pancake.

"No, we're watching some old footage from a long time ago," replied Pasadena, taking the syrup out of Keyon's hand. "Trust me, I know, Grantor forced it on us..."

"Such poor word choice, O'Possum - I was only trying to enlighten you and the others," said Grantor, as the projector started up. "What you're about to see concerns your current adventure. The film featured pretty much serves as a bit of a precursor to **The Dark Prognosticus**." -dramatic music-

"Man I love that dramatic tone..." Fake Crash sighed rather happily, as everyone gave the bandicoot weird looks.

"The main group featured in the film you're about the see are the chosen ones of Keystone Island, the chosen ones of prophecy...as well as a very special group called the Light Confederation."

Crunch, who was sipping his orange juice, would spit his drink out after hearing what Grantor had said. The bandicoot spat out his drink in the face of Aku, who was less than amused.

"Just what the doctor ordered..." the witchdoctor mask sighed, as Crunch wiped his mouth.

"You mean to tell us that there's a Dark Confederation and a _Light_ Confederation?!" the bandicoot frowned at Grantor. "What, is there also a Twilight Federation?!"

"Thank heavens, no! Besides, Twilight Confederation doesn't even roll off the tongue. The Light Confederation actually used to exist prior to the Dark Confederation, but I'll let the film do the talking for me. It should be starting right now..."

Indeed the film was starting up, as a blurry image appeared on the screen...

* * *

 _(Like in the previous story, outsider talk is entirely italicized.)_

Soon the image became more refined and clear, revealing three individuals wearing white cloaks. The three individuals were a ginger-haired man, a dark-skinned woman, and a wombat. Their faces were in clear view.

 _"Those three individuals are the chosen ones of Keystone Island - Fitz, Naomi, and Dominik," explained Grantor._

 _"Not gonna lie, the Naomi chick looks pretty hot..." smiled N. Gin, as he purred loudly, Cortex punched him in the face._

 _"Please have some decency, you're gonna make me look bad..." the N head said to his right hand man. "...provided you haven't already."_

Fitz, Naomi, and Dominik were standing together, in a circle, around some kind of object. The very object was a sword, stuck in a stone - was it the sword of Excalibur?

"Soooo are you gonna lift up the sword or not?" Naomi asked Fitz, who was staring at the legendary blade rather intently.

"Uh, yeah, right," replied Fitz, seemingly snapping out of his trance, as he grabbed the handle of the sword with both hands. Pulling with all his might, the ginger pulled the sword out of the stone, and held it up high in the air, the sun shining on the very tip of the blade.

 _"Showoff..." murmured Kong, eating his pancakes rather loudly._

"With this mighty blade, the blade of Excalibur, the Light Confederation shall rule supreme!" vowed Fitz, as ten cloaked individuals gathered around Fitz, Naomi, and Dominik. One of the cloaked individuals happened to be a bandicoot.

"If King Arthur were here, he would be so proud..." the bandicoot remarked, with a proud smile.

"Right you are, Schroeder, right you are - I have to admit, you'd look pretty great wielding this blade one day. One day..."

 _"That bandicoot is Schroeder, he's the brother of Detlef," explained Grantor. "He was chosen to be the successor of Fitz, who is the leader of the Light Confederation."_

 _"Heh, he reminds me a lot...of me," remarked Crash, noticing some similarities between Schroeder and himself. "Wonder what happened to him."_

The chosen trio stepped down from the rock, joining their fellow Light Confederation members. Other than the bandicoot, Schroeder, there was a pale woman with black hair, a jaguar, an armadillo, a burly man, a blonde-haired woman, a lobster, a walking grasshopper, and a man who appeared to be of Native descent.

"Awesome, you finally found the sword of Excalibur...now can we get on with our mission now?" the pale woman with the black hair asked Fitz, seeming impatient.

"Of course, my dear - obviously the more important deeds always come first," smiled Fitz, wagging his finger at the woman. "It is only by fate that I'm required to seek and maintain the legendary sword."

 _"The pale woman is Malvolia - she and Schroeder used to be pretty close with one another," explained Grantor. Nina took a great liking towards Malvolia, as she found herself stroking her chin._

* * *

The watching of the old footage would be interrupted, when a familiar tone sounded - the radar sound. The moment he heard the radar, Grantor instantly stopped the projector, and rushed out of the kitchen like his life depended on it.

"Don't know about you guys, but that Grantor really needs a girlfriend," remarked Stew. "Getting super excited over the wrong stuff!"

"Leave him alone Stew, it's Grantor," Chick said to the chicken, placing his hand on his partner's shoulder. "He serves no purpose other than being the mentor to Crash and his friends."

"Get yo hand off of me!" Stew slapped Chick's hand away, as Grantor returned to the kitchen.

"The next mask - the Mask of Valor - is in the Temple of Ichabod," the badger explained to our heroes, all giddy inside. "As always, there should be a portal to your destination somewhere in town."

"And I'll have to use the mask I've acquired to find said portal," said Crash, flexing his fingers. "Shouldn't be a problem..."

"Charles, Trent, would you two like to come with Crash and the others to the Temple of Ichabod?" The chameleon and the blonde both looked up, when Grantor asked them this question. "Crash could really use all the help he can get..."

"Not sure if Crash even wants our help, but I suppose Charles and I can offer some assistance," shrugged Trent, before looking towards Crash. "So, when will we be heading out?"

"As soon as possible," replied Crash. "Can't leave evil waiting forever!"

* * *

Grantor stood outside, as he watched Crash and company make their way to the portal to the temple. The badger was about to head back inside his mansion...

...when a blue jay landed in front of him. It was Inez.

"About time you made it back," smiled Grantor.

"Sorry if I kept you worried...experience a whole lot of fatigue," apologized Inez. "Also, I was doing some snooping around."

"As long as you took care of my errands, that's all that matters. So, what kind of snooping were you up to?"

"Well, I saw a Dark Confederation meeting in a forest. Wasn't a major meeting - just a meeting between three members. Strazio was one of them."

"The prophecy scroll did say that Strazio would be brought back alive...how that was achieved, I do not know. What were the members discussing?"

"I wasn't exactly sure, but I saw that they got a new member of sorts...haven't gotten an early impression of him."

* * *

Eating as much of as their breakfast as they could, our heroes, joined by Charles and Trent, got themselves prepared as they embarked on a journey - a journey to the Temple of Ichabod. The heroes looked around town for the portal, not knowing where it was.

"Good afternoon and a cockle-doodle-doo to everyone watching!" reported Chick, as he and Stew were following our heroes around. Their trusty cameraman, Rilla Roo, was recording the duo. "This is Chick Gizzardlips here, along with my trusty partner Stew."

"Our man Crash is back on the hunt, looking for another mask!" added Stew. "The mask he's looking for this time is the Mask of Valor, located in the Temple of Ichabod! And frankly, Crash doesn't even know how to get to the temple! All thanks to that lousy bum..."

"Don't you blokes have anything else better to do?" Charles snapped on the Chick and Stew, interrupting Stew.

"Leave them alone Charles, they did this even back when we we were over at Gemstone Island," said Coco, holding a device in her hands. "There's no quit to them."

"Hey sis, what's that funky contraption you got there in your hands?" Crunched asked the blodne bandicoot.

"Oh, just some device that allows us to track the portal leading to the Temple of Ichabod. No biggie."

"How come you get to use that device, and niether of us don't?" pouted Fake Crash, folding his arms. "Not hard to see who Grantor's favorite is..."

"Or maybe Grantor gave me the device because I'm the smartest person in the group. Food for thought."

"Oh yeah, well I'm pretty smart too! Uh...two plus two...equals bread!"

"...Coco, where is the portal located?" Von Clutch asked the bandicoot, wanting to change the subject.

"According to this device, the portal is just up ahead, at a bank," replied Coco, looking at the map on the device. "We're only a couple of meters away."

Our heroes would reach the bank, and head inside. There was a safe, with a security guard standing in front of it.

"The portal is in the safe, so we'll have to get past the guard to get inside," stated Coco, the device beeping with a flashing red light.

"Either the guard is there because this bank gets robbed often, or the guard is just bored," assumed Cortex, approaching the guard. "Let me talk some sense into him!"

"This isn't going to go well..." remarked Tropy...and he would be right, as Cortex was sent flying towards the heroes, landing on the floor.

"The man wouldn't even let me speak to him! What a jerk! Crash, do something!"

"Do something I shall..." said Crash, as he took out Gabrielle from his knapsack and wore the mask on his face, turning his body spiky and rock hard. The accountants took notice. The bandicoot marched towards the security guard, who got scared.

 _"Boo!"_ Gabrielle spooked the guard, making him scream and run away. Using his temporary strength, Crash opened the lock to the safe, and opened the door. The accountants were too afraid to stop him.

"Not exactly the intended use of my new powers, but at least we found the portal," remarked Crash, as he took Gabrielle off his face. With the heroes joining him, Crash would lead the group inside the safe, through the portal...

* * *

...and arrived at a humid, tropical area, with some forestation. Our heroes got a sense of their surroundings, and looked ahead and saw a giant pyramid-like temple out in the distance.

"Well folks, the mask definitely has to be in that temple," said Uka, knowing that the temple was none other than the Temple of Ichabod. Unless it was an imitation. "So let's get movin'!"

"Do you think those guys might know where the mask is?" asked Trent, as he pointed at a bunch of tigers, wearing robes and holding their hands prayerfully, in a line as they entered the temple. "It wouldn't hurt to ask them."

"They must all be monks," assumed Pasadena, as she observed the tigers' garb. "They would definitely know where the mask is!"

Our heroes moved forward, moving towards the tigers, and they wouldn't get that far. For something stopped them in the tracks.

And that something? It was a bright, white flash that caught our heroes' attention. Everyone turned around, hearing some bustling in the bushes.

"Golly, I found him, I found the chosen one!" a distinct female voice, with an accent, uttered from the bushes. "Finally I got him on my camera!"

Out from the bushes appeared a brown-haired woman, with a purple vest, white dress shirt, black miniskirt, black knee highs socks and brown boots. She had her eyes locked on her target, Crash, and she was holding a camera.

"Should I even ask who you are?" Crash asked the woman, who immediately ran up to the bandicoot and eagerly shook his hand.

"Margo Osment, your most trusted reporter in Keystone Island, from the number one newspaper, _The Pridwen Times_! The first to every scoop! You can always count on me!"

"It hasn't even been half a minute yet, and she's already annoying..." Uka whispered to Cortex.

"Give her some time, she might wear off eventually," Cortex whispered back.

"I've been writing up stories about you ever since your arrival on this island," Margo said to Crash, adjusting the red ascot on her dress shirt. "Your heroics in the Luong Estuary was a major hit among the readers!"

"Dang, I didn't know people knew I was in the estuary..." remarked Crash. "I must be super popular. You must be an awesome journalist or something."

"Guess you could say that...I'm also a reporter! Though it's a side job. I'm doing some reporting right now!"

"Stand back Stew...looks like we got some competition..." Chick murmured to Stew, who was glaring down Margo intensely.

"That Margo chick better know her place, or we're gonna square up..." responded Stew.

"So, what are you and your friends up to?" asked Margo, before clapping her hands in excitement. "Lemme guess - you're gonna find another mask!"

"Uh, yes we are, and we're hoping to find it in that temple over there," replied Crash, pointing at the temple.

"The Temple of Ichabod? Cool! Good thing I have a cameraman who knows a way inside. Javier, get your butt over here!"

A Hispanic cameraman would pop out of the bushes, wearing a backwards gray cap, an open green flannel shirt, a white t-shirt, and some baggy black pants. He was carrying a camera with him.

"Oh yeah, this is definitely a competition now..." seethed Chick, as he cracked his knuckles.

"Everyone, I would like for you to meet Javier Ramirez, my trusty cameraman!" Margo introduced Javier to our heroes. "He's way cooler than he looks!"

"Hey," Javier simply waved to our heroes, sounding pretty bored.

"Javier, can you show Crash and his friends a way inside the Temple of Ichabod? They're looking for a mask!"

"I suppose I can..." Javier sighed a heavy sigh, as he started marching towards the Temple of Ichabod. "Everyone follow me, and watch out for scorpions. There's a lot of them in this area."

"Now you tell me..." frowned Fake Crash, playing around with a scorpion and getting stung in the process. The bandicoot got swollen real quick, as Charles grabbed him and dragged him away.

"Good grief, you carry so much dead weight..." the chameleon said, trying to keep up with the others.


	13. Chapter 13: Celestial Serenade

**Chapter 13: Celestial Serenade**

Our heroes would find their way inside the Temple of Ichabod, where the Mask of Valor resided, and they wouldn't find a way inside by relying on their own intuition. Leading the heroes would be a duo Crash and company encountered - Margo, a reporter, and Javier, her trusty cameraman. Javier knew a way inside the temple, apparently, at least according to Margo.

"Just follow Javier everyone, he knows the way inside!" exclaimed Margo, as Javier led the way. "Finding secret passageways is his specialty!"

"I can't believe those bums are actually putting their trust in those losers..." Stew said to Chick, feeling very salty. "They should be putting their trust in US! We're the OGs around here!"

"You two really need to get over yourselves," Yaya said to Chick and Stew. "Never did we say that Margo and Javier were better than you two and Rilla Roo."

"But you said it just now!" Chick pointed accusingly at Yaya. "Rilla Roo, destroy her!"

"No, Chick, we can't have Rilla Roo beat up Yaya, it'll make us look bad," warned Stew.

"Why, because she's one of the good guys and must be protected at all costs?"

"No, it's just that it'll make us look bad in general. We can't hamper our reputation."

"Crash and friends used to beat up Chantex's female pupils all the time, when they were evil..."

"That's because they had a moral obligation to beat them up. And they also got in their way. They had a reason."

"So what point are you trying to make?"

"That having Rilla Roo beat up Yaya won't do us any good."

"Alright people, we're here," Javier announced, in perhaps the most unenthusiastic, boring way possible, as everyone was standing in front of a door. "We've arrived at the secret entrance to the Temple of Ichabod."

"Can't be that much of a secret entrance, if anyone can see it in broad daylight," remarked Nina.

"Look, I didn't choose where the secret entrance would be! Now stand back, while I perform the secret code..."

Javier walked up to the door, and knocked on it four times. Not very secret. A slit on the door slid open, revealing a pair of eyes.

"What is the secret code to the Temple?" the mysterious figure hiding behind the door asked.

"Taco night on Tuesdays.." replied Javier, eschewing confidence in his reply. Our heroes waited to see if Javier was correct.

"Yes, that is the right code! You are all free to enter the Temple. Just so you know, nothing is for sale - keep your hands to yourself."

The secret door opened, revealing the mysterious person behind it to be none other than one of the tiger monks the heroes saw earlier. The monk let the heroes inside the temple, with Margo and Javier leading the way.

"I would love to show you around the temple, but we have a very important meeting today," the tiger monk said to the group, as he led them to who-knows-where. "My name's Phinehas by the way - I'm one of the monks that gathers in this temple."

"And I'm Crash Bandicoot, the chosen one!" introduced Crash, feeling the sudden need to mention his chosen one status. The bandicoot then introduced the other heroes, as well as the reporting trio, Margo, and Javier. Which must've been a lot for him.

"May I ask why you came to our temple? We seldom receive any visitors, and hardly anyone knows our secret code!"

"Eh, what can I say, I get around a lot," shrugged Javier. "People tell me secret crap all the time."

"We came here looking for a mask - the Mask of Vigor," explained Trent, observing the markings on the wall. "We believe that such a mask is in your very temple."

"It is? Honestly, none of us monks have ever seen this mask before. In fact, the only artifacts we hold in this temple are relics from our ancestors - you know, old weapons and stuff."

"Is that a light I see at the end?" questioned Pasadena, putting her hand over her eyes as she saw a light a far distance from where she was.

"Indeed my possum friend - that light will lead us to the spot where us monks regularly meet. Just a couple more paces, and we'll be there."

A couple more paces later, and Phinehas led the group to the light at the end of the tunnel. The tiger guided the group into a room - a very large, spacious room at that. How spacious was the room? It looked like a large, circular lecture hall, with monks at literally every corner.

"I've never seen so many felines in one space..." remarked Cortex, as he looked around. "...Tiny would be beside himself if he was here!"

"Well why don't you send him out and see for yourself?" suggested Trent, in an almost sarcastic manner.

"Yeah, good idea Trent!" Cortex was about to take out his Warpinator...before Tropy stopped him with his hand.

"Now is not the time," the master of time told Cortex, as Cortex grumbled and placed the Warpinator back in his pocket.

"Follow me, I must introduce you to my fellow monks," said Phinehas, as he led the group to the central pedestal in the room. Our heroes felt the monks looking at them, with some monks whispering among themselves.

"Don't look now, but I think that monk over there just called you fat," Aku said to Crunch.

"He did?!" Crunch snapped, as he looked around. "Which one was it? Tell me, or I'ma pummel all these fools!"

"Shut up, you're gonna make us look bad..." Margo whispered to Crunch, with a frown on her face.

"Same could be said about yourself, hot stuff..." Chick murmured to himself as Stew, overhearing Chick, nodded his head in agreement.

Phinehas took the group to the center of the room, which was a giant pedestal for the group to stand on. Then, by some kind of magic or force, the pedestal rose up high, at least ten meters to be exact.

"Hello once again, my fellow brothers!" Phinehas greeted his fellow tiger monks. "It is about time for our scheduled meeting, in the Temple. As you can see, we have some guests with us...but before we give them the opportunity to speak, we must commence our meeting with a chant."

Phinehas and the tiger monks all closed their eyes, as they held their arms out at the side. They all chanted "Shalom" five times, lifting their hands up every time they said the word.

"This feels like a cult...and we all know what went down the last time," remarked Uka, receiving flashbacks of the Carrot Offspring from the previous adventure.

Once the monks were done with their chant, they opened up their eyes. The ready was now officially ready to commence.

"I would like for everyone to say hello to our guests..." Phinehas kicked things off, as he introduced everyone in the group one-by-one - from our heroes, to the reporting trio, to Margo and Javier. "They are all from...where are you guys from?"

"Pridwen," answered Crash, as Phinehas nodded his head with a smile.

"Ah, yes, they are all from the capital of Keystone Island, the city of..."

Suddenly a loud rumble was heard, as the Temple began to shake violently. Everyone did their best to maintain their footing.

"Great, nobody told me there would be an earthquake!" frowned Stew. "Way to leave us prepared!"

"That is not a good sign...not a good sign at all," worried Phinehas, once the shaking and rumbling was over. "Unwanted guests have entered our beloved Temple."

"Unwanted guests, as in like guests sneaking in without permission?" asked Javier, as he adjusted his cap.

"That is almost always the case, I'm afraid. Such a shame we would have to cancel this meeting so early. So sorry for the inconvenience, everyone."

"The 'unwanted guests' could be those students from the evil academy," Coco whispered to Crash, who nodded before approaching Phinehas.

"Phinehas, I think we have a hunch for who the intruders are," the bandicoot said to the tiger monk, grabbing his attention. "We believe that the intruders are..."

"Kill those intruders, show them no mercy!" a random tiger monk shouted, shaking his fist in the air like a madman. Everyone looked at him crazily, before ignoring him completely.

"Please ignore him - Ibrahim can be a very...bloodthirsty person when it comes to intruders," Phinehas advised our heroes. "Although he can be like that all the time...we've had discussions about kicking him out of the temple for the greater good."

"Whaddaya mean, for the greater good? You really think I'm a bad guy?! Lemme at him, lemme at him!" Ibrahim was held back by his fellow monks, with his target set on Phinehas.

"How about we go look for these unwarranted guests together? They might be looking for the mask you're looking for."

"I bet they are...I bet they are," remarked Crash.

* * *

Our heroes, along with Phinehas, traversed through the temple of Ichabod, on the search for the intruders. Following them was Chick and Stew, reporting the action with Rilla Roo as their cameraman.

"Here we are folks, in the very depths of the Temple of Ichabod..." reported Chick, holding a torch to light the way even though it was fairly light in the tunnels already. Stew held a lighter, in the event Chick's torch were to go out. "...Crash and friends are looking for intruders in this Temple, intruders who may..."

"I don't mean to burst your bubble, Chick, but your hair is on fire," Margo pointed out, as Chick looked up at his pompadour and saw that it was set ablaze. Chick shrieked as he patted away the fire, with Stew helping him.

"Look what you did girl - by pointing out the fire on Chick's head, you made the fire even worse!" Stew scolded Margo, once the fire was gone.

"I did no such thing - and besides, that fire practically stayed the same. I just wanted to help out, that's all!"

"Just look at her Chick, she's a maniac..." Stew told his partner-in-crime, extremely unnerved by the genuine smile on Margo's face. "...how do people like her even get to live on his planet?"

"You two have got some serious personal problems," Trent said to Chick and Stew, shaking his head at them.

"Says the guy whose best friend is a talking chameleon," retorted Chick.

"If I was supposed to be offended by that...then you failed, big time."

"Just like how you failed stopping Crash when Chantex had you by the leash, huh?"

"Will you PLEASE stop fighting?!" boomed Phinehas, as our heroes traveled further into the temple. "Is a little peace and quiet too much to ask?"

"In all fairness, she kinda started it," Chick accusingly pointed at Margo; rather than feigning innocence, or wonder why she was accused, Margo just looked at Phinehas and smiled and waved.

"I don't CARE who started it, I just want things to be silent for the time being. You folks are starting to drive me nuts! If I hear one more peep..."

"Hey Phinehas, what's with that light at the end of the tunnel?" asked Coco, pointing at the...well, light at the end of the tunnel. Phinehas' temper went away, as the tiger monk got all giddy.

"Yes, yes, that's where we must go! I can detect the intruders' presence from beyond that light. We just have to keep on pushing ahead!"

Push on ahead Crash and company did, as they finally reached the light. Crash was at the front, unsure of whether he should enter into the light or not.

"Just a quick question..." the bandicoot said, turning around to face Phinehas. "...if I go through the entryway, will something bad happen to me? Will I change form or something?"

"You might get a migraine or two..." replied Phinehas, stroking his chin in thought as he thought of a few symptoms. "...and maybe a case of the lumps. But other than that, I think you and the others will be just fine."

"Okay that's all I needed to know, doesn't sound that bad to me." Relieved, Crash entered through the entryway, with the others following him.

* * *

Once everyone passed through, they all saw that they arrived in what appeared to be some kind of celestial realm - the ground was green, the trees were green, everything else was green, and the sky was littered with stars...green stars.

"Everyone, I would like to welcome you all to the Underside of the Temple," announced Phinehas, seeing how easily entranced our heroes were. Rilla Roo recorded everything in sight on his camera, whereas Javier snapped pictures with his digital camera.

"Groovy..." smiled Javier after he was done, placing his camera back where it was.

"This is the realm where are forefathers' spirits make their peaceful abode," said Phinehas, leading the group along the way. "We often come to this place, to speak with the spirits of the ancestors that came before our time."

"So basically this place is just an interactive graveyard," assumed Crunch.

"...more or less, but it has a more 'mythical' feel to it, if you will. Usually we don't let guests in this realm, but..."

Suddenly a bunch of Gloombreed showed up, all surrounding our heroes and Phinehas. Crash and company got on the offensive, while Rilla Roo and Javier got their cameras rolling.

"Ooh, monsters!" exclaimed Margo, the most excited out of everyone else. "How cool!"

"They're not just any monsters..." said Crash, as he looked towards a frightened Phinehas. "Chick, Stew, watch Phinehas while we deal with the Gloombreed!"

"Got it, bandicoot!" Stew gave Crash the OK hand signal, before looking at Margo and Javier with a taunting smile. "Ha, in your faces, losers!"

"Why did I even bother asking them..."

So while our heroes dealt with the Gloombreed, the reporting trio escorted Phinehas away from the action, just so he wouldn't get hurt. Following after them were Margo and Javier.

"They're following us..." Stew alerted Chick about the journalist and her trusty cameraman, looking behind him. "...let's get away from them."

"Good idea," Stew nodded his head, as the reporting trio escorted Phinehas away from Margo and Javier.

"Boys, where are we going?" asked Phinehas, being escorted against his own will. "Aren't we supposed to stay as close to Crash and the others as possible?"

"True dat, but those creeps Margo and Javier are coming after us. They're nothing but bad news! Bad news I tell ya!"

"I think you two are just crazy..."

"I do believe it's you who's...crazy?"

The reporting trio came to a stop, when they came across a bunch of muscular bound Gloombreed, standing tall and proud. Chick, Stew, Phinehas, and even Rilla Roo felt intimidated by the Gloombreed, as Margo and Javier caught up with them.

"Ooh, look Javier, cool-looking monsters!" smiled Margo as she pointed at the Gloombreed, not at all intimidated. But Javier, on the other hand...now that was an entirely different story. "Take some pictures of them!"

"I don't think they'll appreciate that..." responded Javier, as a feline appeared from behind the muscular Gloombreed. She had a red amulet around her neck - similar to the amulets Drazen and Lorelai wore.

"Looks like we caught some prey..." the feline grinned deviously, as she licked her lips. The feline was in fact a cheetah, wearing some African-inspired clothing. "Eily, Renee, where on earth are you two?"

"I'm right here, Bridget!" announced a pink-haired girl, appearing from behind a celestial tree as she joined the cheetah, with a white amulet around her neck. Sounds familiar? If you've read the previous story, you may or may not remember Eily. "Sorry, I wanted to introduce myself in style..."

"We have no time for style points, woman - we found someone in this celestial realm, and we're going to take them out. Especially if they're associated with the chosen one, Crash."

"For your information, little miss, NO ONE is allowed to access this realm, by any means," scolded Phinehas, letting Bridget know what was up. "Who told you that you could enter this place without permission?"

"Well how were we supposed to know? The portal to this place was already open." This greatly concerned Phinehas, as he had a look of worry on his face.

"Then that...that must mean someone accessed this realm before you did...but how? Who could've sneaked their way inside?"

"You're not having a midlife crisis, are you?" asked Eily, cocking her head to the side.

"Eily the tiger looks pretty old, no way he's having a midlife crisis," Bridget said to her classmate. "Now where on earth is..."

Before Bridget could even finish, a flurry of arrows were fired out, all landing around Phinehas and company's feet. The arrows surrounded them, preventing anyone from getting away. Just then, a girl with sandy blonde hair leaped down, landing in front of Phinehas in the others.

"You called?" the blonde asked Bridget and Eily.

"Ah, Renee, there you are," smiled Bridget - you might recall Renee from the previous story. "You always gotta have some kind of snazzy entrance, don't ya?"

"Oh Bridget, you know me too well..you know how much I love to show off to the crowd. Even the friends of our enemies..." Renee turned around to face Phinehas and company, as she said this.

"She was totally talking about those losers, Margo and Javier," Chick whispered to Stew, who nodded his head in agreement.

"Keep your grimy hands off of them, Renee!"

That shout came from Charles, who showed up at the scene along with the rest of our heroes - encased inside a large lime green orb, one that was summoned by Charles. The chameleon, using his mythical powers, brought the orb down to the ground, before making it disperse.

"Well look who showed up to the party...Charles the Chameleon and Trent," remarked Bridget, as our heroes got into a fighting stance. "Figured those Gloombreed wouldn't keep you as busy..."

"You let them go at once!" Crash pointed at Bridget, wanting Phinehas and company to be spared. Bridget could only laugh.

"You honestly believe we'd give them up that easily? For a bandicoot, you're just as stupid as I imagined..."

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Crash dug into his pocket, and pulled out his Warpinator. "Don't say I didn't warn you..." The bandicoot pressed a button on the Warpinator, as he sent out Ripper Roo.

"No Nicky, don't pull her her out it'll make her strong again!" shouted Roo, for no reason, before the kangaroo looked around. "...where the heck am I?"

"Oh no, not him again..." fretted Eily, when she saw the blue mutant kangaroo out in front of her.

"Hey I remember you - you're that pink-haired girl that ransacked the government building at Gemstone Island! Beat up the government officials and everything! Just so you could look for clues about the..."

"So she's the one that was trying to hurt Henry Knox, huh?!" frowned Crunch, as he readied his fist. "Crunch don't even care about politics, but he do care about the safety of others!"

"That's a first..." murmured Tropy, before Crunch gave the master of time a quick glare. "I didn't say anything..." Tropy said in response, albeit afraid.

"Alright, enough chit chat..." said Bridgette as she flexed her fingers. "...Renee, Eily, you take the five and take them away, while my Gloombreed and I deal with Crash and his peon friends."

"Sure thing!" responded Renee, as she used the arrows surrounding the Phinehas and company to form some kind of net. Renee would make the net float up into the air...until a TNT crate was thrown at it, bursting the net open and making the five fall to the ground.

"Ha ha ha, bullseye!" cheered Roo, as Renee looked at the kangaroo with a shocked face.

"W-what, that wasn't supposed to happen..." Renee held her hand up to her forehead, confused by what had just transpired. "That net was supposed to be strong and sturdy..."

"Well you clearly thought wrong, haha!" Roo taunted at Renee, hopping up and down, as Renee glared down the blue kangaroo.

"Time to put you out your misery..." Renee summoned a mythical bow, ready to fire an arrow at Roo...only for a wicked thunderbolt to nearly strike the blonde. Renee shrieked, as she and the others jumped out of the way.

"Not on my watch, hot shot," smirked Trent, the very man who summoned the thunderbolt with the snap of his fingers.

"I've had just about enough of this..." frowned Bridgette, before pointing her finger at our heroes. "Gloombreed, attack!"

So the Gloombreed Bridgette summoned quickly went on the offensive, roaring loudly as they ran towards our heroes. Phinehas and company quickly moved out of the way before fists started flying, as Chick and Stew guided Phinehas towards a celestial tree.

"You'll be safe here, Phinehas," Chick ensured the tiger monk, before turning around and seeing that Margo and Javier followed them to the tree. "Why did you two losers have to follow us here?"

"Maybe because neither one of us has no desire of dying," replied Javier, like he expected Chick to know the answer beforehand.

"We also want to look like we're being helpful!" added Margo, with a cheery smile.

"Just as we figured...you're just trying to take our credit!" Stew accusingly pointed at Margo and Javier. "Ain't no way am I giving my precious card to you bums!"

"It's okay Stew, they're not going to take your money," Chick reassuringly rested his hand on Stew's shoulder, as Stew let out a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe you two, making the journalist and her cameraman out to be villains..." Phinehas shook his head at Chick and Stew, with his arms folded. "...those are the real villains out there!" Phinehas pointed at Bridgette, Eily, and Renee, with Eily seeing Phinehas pointing at her.

"Since we got Crash and the others occupied...why don't we go after the tiger?" the girl asked Bridgette, who was stroking her chin.

"Nah...we're not after the tiger anyways," replied Bridgette, as she turned around. "We got a mask to find, after all!"

"B-B-But what if the tiger leads Crash to the mask before we can reach it? The last thing our headmaster would want is another failed mission!"

"We'll just let things play out...for now. If things don't go in our favor, we'll tip the scale at the most opportune moment."

"I got a very bad feeling about this..." murmured Eily, looking back at Phinehas - arguing with Chick and Stew - before looking at our heroes fighting the Gloombred, as she followed Bridgette and Renee.

Soon our heroes were done with the Gloombreed, as Roo dispatched the very last monster. The kangaroo really came through, tossing his TNT crates left and right.

"Well, that should be the last of them," Roo scanned the area, before facing Crash and company. "Glad that I could be of assistance."

"We greatly appreciate it, Roo," thanked Crash, as he took out his Warpinator. "But before you go...how did that Eily chick know you?"

"That pink-haired girl? Yeah, Dingodile and I saw her ransack the Gemstone Island Government Building, while y'all were in the Cohmnall Morass. Claimed she was looking for information about the Dark Confederation."

"That would mean that none of the Keystone Academy students know much about the Confederation..." assumed Aku. "...quite interesting."

"Yeah, Dingodile and I told that chick to go look out for Strazio, just to keep her at bay. Didn't want to give her information she could use against us...and by us, I mean you guys, by the way."

"Weird, Headmaster Jacques - when he was Chantex - discouraged us from speaking about the Dark Confederation," said Trent, with his finger underneath his chin. "Thought it was silly talk. The headmaster for this island's academy might be in the same boat."

"We don't know that for sure - the headmaster could be a secret member of the Confederation," theorized Pasadena, providing another thinking point for our heroes.

"Crash get your butt over here quick - this Margo chick is trying to blackmail us!" Stew called out to Crash. In actuality, Margo was just snapping photos of the celestial realm.

"...we should keep on looking for the mask," Crash said to Roo, getting his Warpinator ready. "Let us know if anything happens while we're away." Roo nodded his head, before Crash warped the blue kangaroo back to Grantor's mansion.

"Oh no, now the cameraman is recording Phinehas! He's trying to brainwash him! Crash, where are you?!"

"This is what we get for having Chick and Stew follow us around..." sighed Crash, as he held our heroes to where Stew and company were located.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Temple, the tiger monks were chatting among themselves, waiting for Phinehas to return. One monk that couldn't wait that long was Ibrahim, who was pacing back and forth in the hallway.

"What could that Phinehas be up to..." the monk wondered, as he had his arms folded. Just then, he heard a loud sound, coming from down the hall. Curious, Ibrahim went to the source of the sound, wondering what it could be...

...and soon he found a fellow tiger monk, being strangled by a bunch of vines from the ground while held up in the air. The monk did his best to fight out of the vines securely wrapped around his neck, but to no avail.

"Uriah!" Ibrahim called out the tiger monk's name, coming to the rescue as he wiped out a long sword. Phinehas would cut the vines with his sword, rescuing Uriah as the tiger monk fell to the ground. "Uriah, are you okay?" asked Ibrahim, taking the vines off of Uriah's neck.

"Ibrahim...save yourself..." warned Uriah, before a sharp icicle was fired towards Ibrahim. Anticipating the icicle's movement, Ibrahim jumped out of the way, snatching the icicle with his right hand before crushing it into pieces.

"Who are you, you coward?!" Phinehas shouted out, as he looked around the surrounding area. "Show yourself!"

"Aw, how cute, the little putty cat is acting all fierce for his best friend!" said a female voice, sounding very girly and happy.

"If he keeps that up, he'll just wind up being our little fodder," said another female voice, sounding very cold and lacking empathy.

"Who are you? Where are you? Let me see your faces!"

The two ladies in question would make their appearing, out of the darkness of the room, as Phinehas gave them both their full attention. The ladies were both wearing black robes and masks - meaning that they belonged to the confederation. One had a mask with a γ sign, the other a mask with the ∆ sign. And when they took off their hoods and masks...

...they revealed themselves to be a brunette and a blonde, respectively. Notably, the brunette looked like she was Hispanic.

"Azalea Fuentes and Iseult Liston, at your service!" the brunette exclaimed. Azalea and Iseult - the girls who conspired with one another in the previous adventure - had returned.

But how? Did Cortex not dispatch them? Were Azalea and Iseult just sent to a different dimension?

"Uriah, I want you to go to the celestial realm, and find Phinehas and tell him about these two blokes in our Temple," Ibrahim said to Uriah, who helped himself up to his feet. "I need all the help I can get..."

"You sure you're gonna take them on by yourself?" asked Uriah, as Ibrahim readied his sword.

"Do as I say!" Ibrahim yelled at Uriah, who ran away with the quickness. Ibrahim had the two ladies in his focus. "Tell me your names!"

"Should we indulge him?" the blonde asked the brunette, who responded with a cheery smile.

"I don't see why not!" replied the brunette, as she summoned her weapon of choice, a blade of grass. The blonde summoned an icicle spear.

Judging by the looks of it, it was going to be one heck of a fight.


	14. Author's Note

Hello readers! It has been a while, hasn't it? Six months, I think. And, well...

...I was bracing myself for this.

So as you know, I haven't updated this story in months. Lots of reasons for that - I've been busy with school (which I am done with), busy with the other story I'm currently working on, and a whole bunch of other things. And this whole time, I've neglected this story - mainly because of how tied up I was.

So, as much as I hate to say it, this story, for now, has been...cancelled. But no worries, this won't be the end. I'll redeem myself later, and revive this story in a future time. Possibly around the end of the year, something like that. When that new version of this story is published, this story right here will be deleted and replaced. I'll still have the old chapters, so I can just spruce them up in the future if I need to.

Well, that's all for now - sorry if I bummed you out or anything. Just wanted to fill you guys on what was going on. I hope I see most of you again, either for when the new version of this story gets released, or even anywhere else on this website, who knows.

Until then, stay fresh!


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